Pharaoh's Gate
by Zephyrsword
Summary: Yugi and friends are sucked into a virtual world where monsters and magic roam free. Together, they must complete the Shadow Game concerning a mystery about a mystic Egyptian town named Pharaoh's Gate and unlock the secrets of the Lord of Darkness. Heavily inspired from the 2000 RPG Baldurs Gate 2:- The Shadows of Amn, but with some major deviations. Rating may increase.
1. Ch1 - Prisoners of War

**Summary:**

The story is mainly set in a virtual RPG world universe with some switches to Domino City (The real world) between chapters. It is a heavily inspired world from the 2000 RPG of similar name, Baldurs Gate, but it also takes some qualities from other RPGs that affected me in my youth. The opening sequence and overarching story is spiritually similar, but it has many deviations and heavily borrows traits from the Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters universe above all else. That being said, only basic YGO DM knowledge is required to fully enjoy this one. This story is set between Season 2 and Season 3 of Duel Monsters. I'll also be using most of the dub names since I was brought up with those names, no offense to those who like the Japanese ones. Miho (from season zero) is also in this story for a short while.

I will sometimes switch between third and first person between chapters. I'll write down notes of who's perspective it is in the header.

One last thing, I'm from England so I'll be using a lot of British spellings (such as colour instead of color)

* * *

**Chapter 1: Prisoners of War**

* * *

A hollow gushing of wind let out a continuous moan under the darkness of the wet and damp brick of the castle underbelly. Tall cages littered around the vast room suspended in the air by rusted brown metal pathways. A man with tanned skin and spiked platinum hair leered into one of the opened cages in the face of one of his captors. His eyes were dull and vacant to the battered man that was in front of him. "I am Marik Ishtar, your captor." He pulled out an arm from his dark turquoise cape, embroidered with the stains of dried blood. In his clenched hand he held a gold, upturned pyramid. Upon the top of it rested a heavy silver chain as if it were some kind of oversized necklace.

"You... when did you..." The man with the tri-coloured hair inside the cage barked, his violet eyes were focused intently on the object Marik held in hand "...just what kind of game is this?"

"Game?" Marik cackled with wheezy laughs "I guess you could call it that. But I can assure you and your comrades are not the ones that shall partake in my 'fun'. Just take a look around at your situation Yami."

The Pharaoh looked around and saw his friends in silver rusted cages not too far away. He could make out Tristan not too far away. Just to the left of him was the closest of the cages, with Joey inside. He grabbed the bars of the cages rattling them furiously in the hope the steel would part ways. "Hey! You leave him alone, you got me!?"

Marik turned his head to the short-haired blonde "I will not be talked down by an insect!" His face refocused on Yami as he put away the Puzzle into some compartment behind his cape freeing both of his hands. He presented them both out as if he were in preparedness to cast some spell. Yami wanted to run, but his ankles shackled him from moving behind the crazed madman. Marik began to chant some benign Ancient Egyptian speil and hands spun around each other until a magic light of lavender formed at the center of them and shot it at Yami. The magic impact put an instant strain on his head and before he knew it, he was on the ground. His body lacked the strength to move and his head pulsed.

"You have much untapped power, Son of Ra" Marik's words were an ache to hear.

Something happened after that. Yami wasn't sure, but whatever the words that would play in his head next belonged to something or someone he didn't recognise.

_The Lord of Darkness shall rise again._

For whatever reason, Yami reawoke to find that Marik no longer stood at his feet, but the cage door was still open. He heard footsteps in the distance but his thoughts were in disarray. _"Are they leaving... or are they coming closer?"_ He felt his mind was forgetting something important, it was empty and hollow from the lack of his spirit-partner. He used one of his slender arms to push himself up and looked up at the metal chandelier frame above the cage, as if it were his only ray of light. "This must be some kind of dream."

It was then a shadow was cast over him causing him to look forwards. There he saw a girl standing there. She had brunette mid-length hair and hazel eyes. On top of her pink school uniform she wore a brown leather vest, which looked extremely out of place. Even more worryingly, she had the strangest gold bow on her back. There was a leather belt on her waist that was filled duel monster cards and a quiver of arrows. Yami thought it was the effects of his mind playing tricks on him.

"Just what are you dressed as Tea?" He questioned. He brushed his gold spiked bangs a little to get a better view.

"I'll explain that later. But right now we're in heaps of trouble! I'll set you free first and then the others."

Yami nodded. Tea grabbed a short metal instrument from the leather satchel on he leg and bent down close to Yugi. She got close to the lock on the shackle of his ankle and quickly inserted the metal lockpick into the keyhole and turned it. "Wow, this is easier than I thought!"

Within seconds, the shackle fell loose and one of his feet were free. "Tea, how did you just do that?"

"I don't know, but with these lockpicks I have I can just seem to open these with no effort at all!" Shortly after saying that, Tea finished with the second shackle, allowing Yami to step free. Tea stepped up and gave Yami his arm and they both stood up together.

"I don't know how it's possible, but that RPG Joey showed us turned into some kind of Shadow Game. And now Marik's been messing with our heads."

"So that's why I don't remember what happened..."

"Now let's go free Joey and Tristan next!" Tea skipped over the metal rusted pathway. She saw Joey in the cage unconscious. "Joey! Joey!" She repeatedly called his name in a loud and chipper tone.

"Sshh, quieten down!" Yami's hand landed quickly on Tea's face to silence her.

It was then they both heard a loud yawn as the blonde teenager casually awoke. "Mmmm, had the weirdest dream I was being chased by a Kuriboh..." He suddenly realized he wasn't in his bedroom and quickly looked around "Hey... uh, am I still dreaming? Where the heck am I? I'm sure the last thing I remember was that we played that game and..."

Tea unlocked the door and it casually swung open. Joey stood up and then gave a quick bow "Hey, uh thanks. But what's with the crazy get up?"

Yami expelled some explanations to his friend "It seems like we're stuck in some kind of twisted Shadow Game of Marik Ishtar set up. He must have done something to your Pharoah's Gate game you had there, because I'm starting to think we're in it."

"For real?" Joey replied "No wonder this place looked so familiar! So... we just have to beat old Marik Ishtar here to win right?"

"We should focus on escaping first." Yami concluded folding his arms. "It will do us no good to chase a man unprepared. Let's go free Tristan now Tea."

The girl nodded, and the blonde haired boy got up to leave his prison but everyone stopped at the sound of a squeaking noise.

_**KUURRRIIIIII**_

Joey's front foot was left hanging in the air as a pair of yellow eyes on a brown ball of fluff gave a cute cry out aloud to stop it being stepped on. The man pulled his foot back to inspect it. "Aw man, I thought a cat just left a hairball in here! Not that that's any better 'is all I'm saying."

Yami placed his palm on his face. Tea just giggled. "Well I think it's kind of cute. It must have been sleeping this whole time! I'll call it Kuri!"

The Kuriboh stood up with it's tiny green legs and presented two white wings behind its back making all sorts of weird noises. It zoomed close into Joey's face before finding a place on his head. "Hey man, the doo is off limits you hear!?"

Tea and Yami just continued to giggle. "Alright, let's just press on shall we? We still have Tristan left to free, so please help us Tea."

The four of them, including the Winged Kuriboh wondered carefully over to the final cage. Like Yami, he had an odd hairstyle choice, his hair was pointed at the top. He was in his blue school uniform too, much like Yami and the pals. He seemed unusually quiet, contemplating on his surroundings. He rubbed his head. "Why does my noggin feel like a hammer fell on it?"

Tea approached the cage and quickly unlocked it. "Now you're free as well!" She smiled.

Tristan quickly leapt out of his bindings and took a look around "Aren't we down some members still?"

Yami folded his arms "Yes. Both Miho and little Yugi are still missing. For the latter I last saw Marik Ishtar with my Millennium Puzzle."

For some reason Tea placed her hand on her chest and began to pant as if she was having a panic attack. In her mind flashed the image of blood stains and the scream of a woman. The three men immediately tried to aid her but she then relaxed. "It's alright, I'm fine." Tea began to walk slowly to an opening light on the central left-hand door. "If we enter through here, we can get back our belongings. Fortunately our captor didn't leave our things too far from our own cells. I saw some other strange items in that room as well."

Yami raised an eyebrow intrigued "What like?"

"You'll see soon enough."

The room beyond the holding cells was a moderately sized room with various bloodied instruments hung up above a wooden desk. On desk Yami scanned his eyes over a book with the title 'Lord of Darkness'. It was the same words he had heard within his head... perhaps it was a clue to what Marik Ishtar's role was in the game. Such a title befitted such a madman filled with bloodlust. Tea walked over to a giant brown chest "This entire complex is some kind of sick torture chamber. Gives you a good idea into Marik's mind doesn't it?" She placed both of her hands on the chest and attempted to lift up it's heavy lid. The other three gathered around and looked in awe as Tea pushed it open to reveal the treasure inside. Joey reached his hands inwards immediately and pulled out a strange gold sword and a small black box "Hey! There's a a whole booty of treasure here!"

Tristan ducked as Joey swung the huge sheathed sword wildly in the air like a cricket bat "Be careful with that!" The Kuriboh on Joey's head imitated Tristan and then bonked Joey lightly on the head with it's tiny green hand. "Ouch, but hey, what's this slot on this sword for?" He pointed to the handle, where it had a moderately sized recess where paper could be inserted. Yami reached inside the chest and pulled out a similar small black box. Opening it, he gasped as the brown card backs magically shone for a few moments. "Hey, these are Duel Monster cards!" He turned the deck of cards over and saw the print of familiar creatures on the backs of them. Dark Magician, Celtic Gaurdian and Dark Magician Girl. "Not only that, it seems these cards are my own cards."

Joey was curious and proceeded to open his own box. "Hey you're right, there's my Red-Eyes in here!"

Tristan pulled out a box and a gold Mace weapon. At the base of it, it had a flat section for something to be placed "I think all these weapons are also really whacky duel disks."

Tea pointed to the flat area on her bow, where arrows were supposed to be loaded. "That's what I thought too. I also snagged my own deck of cards.

"How the heck do we play this game with only one slot for a card?" Tristan asked curiously.

Yami lifted out a piece of lightweight armour from the chest "I don't know. But I'm sure if we try to play the game by its rules we'll find out. I would suggest at least taking a piece of the armour strewn in here. It seems this will be no friendly Shadow Game."

After some time assembling the party were finally done with preparations. Yami had placed on some rather light yet elaborate gold and silver chestplate with an engraving of the Wdjat upon its collar. Joey was equipped with leather bracers with silver embossing. Tristan chose a cape, it wasn't necessary, but he argued that it looked good on him. Yami finished attaching the sheathed shortblade onto his waist. "We seem good to go. We should prioritize on finding Yugi Moto and Miho."

The party nodded and they marched through the room. The alleyway ahead got exceptionally dark only being lit by the orange flicker of candle light.

"Hey man, this place is way too creepy." Tristan reached out for Tea with grabby hands.

"Get away from me creep! Stop behaving like such a baby!"

Both Joey and the Kuriboh on his head sighed in unison. However, the comedy was shortlived when they were confronted by a bright light down the hallway.

"What is that...?" Joey squinted "A door to the outdoors? Did we make it already?"

They started to run down the hall and the light got larger and larger. Yami chuckled "That would have been far too easy." They were in a vast room and in front of them was an hourglass like object filled with sparking lightning.

Yami stepped forwards slowly onto the flesh coloured tiles, edging ever closer to the machination "This machine seems to be some kind of electric generator of sorts."

It was then electric bolts from the machine crackled and buzzed at his presence, triggering some kind of trap. The bolts of lightning seemed to stop in the air like ghosts the Pharoah could see pairs of angry looking eyes in them. "It's the duel monster, Electric Virus!"

Joey jumped forward "Oh great, time to play then!" He unsheathed his greatsword with a card in hand and placed it into the slot below the sword handle. "Here goes nothing... I summon you old pal!"

A spark of light emitted from the blade and a black energy shot forth in front of him. Before long, the Red Eyes Black dragon stood in front of him and roared. "Okay pal! Crush em!" The Red Eyes swept forth a claw and stomped the living lightning.

"No! Joey, don't do that!" Yami cried "You should have summoned something other than a Dragon!"

Joey stared at the still black dragon "Ehh... why not?"

It was then lightning shot up the body of the Red Eyes, until it was sparking and golden. Yami jumped backwards and placed a card down on his short sword's handle. "In Duel Monsters, the Electric Virus can take control of any Machine or Dragon type monster!"

"Oh poopy... that's not good!"

"I summon you, Dark Magician Girl!" In front of Yami appeared a tall young blonde girl in rediculous blue elven robes appeared before him. She held out a green oak staff and pointed it at the dragon seperating the Electric Virus from Joey's Red-Eyes. However the electric bolt monsters continued to dart around the room at an unpredictable pace. Tristan of all people was sure that they were increasing in number. "I'm pretty sure we only had two when we started out!"

Joey hopped back as he returned his dragon card to the bottom of his deck. "If dey keep increasing like this, we'll be in big trouble!"

The Pharaoh looked up at the electric generator in the room. "The solution must be to do with this electric generator here, perhaps if we aim our attacks at that... Dark Magician Girl! Unleash your fury upon this machine and end this conflict!"

His elven mage giggled and gave a casual hop into the air firing another blast from her rod. It came in impact with the generator, but it wasn't the least bit scratched. In the place of the explosion, another Electric Virus monster appeared. There were now six or more of them in the room.

Tristan lifted a card out of his deck to reveal a yellow bordered card "Aw man, we can't use machines or dragons right? I guess this Robotic Knight is out of the question." Before Tristan could react, the glowing fizzle of one of the electric fiends entered his personal space, its crazy red eyes flickered on its lightning composed body. It was like a tv screen had been possessed by a demon. Without thinking, Tristan swiped the air with his Duel Disk hybrid mace and the demon gave a moaning cry before fizzling out into nothing. "Hey you know, these really do work!"

Yami unsheathed his gold short-sword "I guess these are all part of that 'game' we decided to play, but as you can see, simply hitting these creatures won't solve our problem." He pointed as another electric fiend appeared and then proceeded to slash it as it homed in on him. Dark Magician Girl also took out two more.

Tea shot an arrow from her bow "Taking them out now is no problem, but we need to find a way to stop them from appearing!"

Joey placed his fist on top of his other "Hey you know, you gave me an idea!"

"Oh?"

"I think there is a switch of some kind around this room here," He quickly scanned around to see the contents of the room and laid eyes on a large stone wheel with Egyptian inscriptions on it. "Yeah! There it is! Turning that thing off will also turn off the generator!"

Yami cheered "Excellent Joey!"

Tristan ran ahead a little and stood facing the generator "We'll hold them off, you go do what you usually do!"

Joey smiled "Thanks 'Trist" The Kuriboh on his head jumped off and started flying ahead of him, cutely trying to pull the lever all by himself. "Hey, Kuri man, I respect your generosity but there's no way you could push something so heavy yerself." The blonde grabbed the wheel by both hands and strained to pull it leftwards. "Gee, this thing is heavy!"

With some effort the stone wheel eventually made a clicking sound and with a heavy grind, began to turn. As he did so the light of the generator dimmed to a warm glow and to the friends relief, the monsters vanished from sight and their pale cries could no longer be heard.

The group gathered back together and Tea, Tristan and Joey cheered. Yami just grinned a little as he usually did, his dark eyes always made it seem unintentionally sinister though. "There seems to be only one pathway out of here, so let's press on."

Tea seemed unusually uncomfortable as they proceeded down the dark path. Yami could sense the choking atmosphere around her and quickly sped up his pace until he was at level distance with her. He kept his face focused forwards "Tea are you quite alright?"

The brunette girl stopped in her tracks "I'm sorry. It's just I don't know if I can take all of this. It feels like some crazy dream."

"Tea, don't blame yourself. If anything, blame the crazy wads who made this messed up game in the first place"

Yami looked at the American accented boy wearing the bracers "Speaking of which, Joey, can you remind me what happened before we wound up here? My head is still confused after whatever Marik was doing to us back there."

**Note:- **

The "You still have much untapped power." from Marik is a direct quote of the same line used by Jon Irenicus in Shadows of Amn.


	2. Ch2 - Let the Games Begin

**Chapter 2: Fated Day**

* * *

**Perspective of Joey Wheeler**

It was a day much like any other in the summer during our break from the battle city charade. I was walking down to school that morning and I thought I better pay a visit to my old pal Yugi. Part of me wanted to see him because I wanted to make sure that the rare hunters didn't ambush him and part of me wanted to see him because of our long lasting friendship. I remember entering through the doors of the Kame Game store, they were already wide open inviting me inwards. Everything seemed swell and dandy, until my eyes locked on to the customer standing in front of me at the counter.

He was very tall and imposing, he wore a ridiculous white longcoat which seemed to defy gravity. He had blue belted straps on his elbows and an all too familiar brunette hairstyle. In front of me I could hear Yugi's Grampa trying to argue over the demanding ego.

"Seto Kaiba... we don't sell this kind of stuff in our store. We only sell traditional games."

"I've offered you the money, why won't you take it old man?" Kaiba finally relaxed his arms back and turned around to face me all frustrated. Without second thought, he threw a moderately sized box in his hand at me.

I only barely managed to catch the box in my hands. It was wide and flat box like one of those really old videogame covers. On the front was a picture of a cracked Egyptian Wdjat, the center iris beamed a red imposing glow on the print. The title red 'Pharaoh's Gate' and the publisher was Kaiba Corp. But then it struck me, before my father went downhill he had a similar game before with the same name. Before, it was a board game. From what I knew it was about a selection of party members who went on an adventure. The title referenced the town founded by a mysterious Pharaoh who vanished after the Lord of Darkness appeared. It involved lots of dice rolling and was one of those games that required some imagination. However in my hands, I seemed to hold what looked like a virtual copy of that exact nostalgic game. It tingled in my brain a bit as I stared at it curiously.

"The old chump doesn't want it, so take it Wheeler." Kaiba huffed as he barged past me, he pushed me slightly causing me to wheeze. "Gee, uh, thanks I guess."

Still holding the videogame Kaiba gave me, I went to go check on Yugi's Grandfather. He seemed still angered by Kaiba's rather rude intrusion "That Seto needs to learn some manners."

"What's up Gramps?" I asked rather hesitantly. I didn't want to rekindle pop's already sour mood.

"He wanted me to sell that game in my store, but for all my generations I've only ever sold traditional games. I do remember the original version of that game though."

"Oh you do?" I replied trying to smile off Kaiba's abrupt behaviour.

"Yes... but I'm afraid the copy I have has seen better days. It was quite a popular game at one point, just like Duel Monsters. I suppose Kaiba wants to revive the product as a hot new videogame to attract the youth of this generation. But such a thing has no place in my store. I'm sure you'll have better use out of it."

It was then over the next week I began to realise that as I walked to school that morning, that a screen on a shopping window televised a glaring image of the same eye on the box of the game I had placed in my school bag.

"_Hot and new! Embark on the most thrilling RPG adventure yet, with gorgeous realistic CGI. Buy your copy now for when the game goes online at the end of this week! Presented by Kaiba Corp technlogies!"_

Various images flashed on the screen of silhouetted heroes fighting off various Duel Monsters. "Meh, doesn't quite beat the card game, but I'll try it out later." I was somewhat unimpressed by the lack of virtual reality it seemed to have compared to the card game. Still, going on an adventure like that seemed kind of cool to me at least.

It was then a shorter version of Yami ran up to my side. He had been following me since I left the Kame Game store with him. He lacked the three elevated gold bangs at the top of his head and his wide eyes and face reflected more of a modest boy than an angry card duelist.

"Hey Joey!"

I looked around to see him panting, his poor short legs trying to keep up with me "Oh sorry Yug'"

"If you hadn't of stopped there like you had I don't think I would have been able to catch up!" He started wheezing. I felt kind of sorry for him, because I had got lost in thought on a silly videogame. Regardless I stood for a while allowing the little guy to catch his breath and before long we were at the school. The day was long, but by the end of it I managed to meet up with Tristan, Tea and Miho too. It seemed like what I had on my mind was oddly the same thing they had on theirs.

"Pharaoh's Gate. It's been everywhere in the news lately." Tristan shouted towards me. "It's apparently a big deal!" Aside Tristan I could see a girl with pastel blue hair tied up neatly behind her head. "Do you game Miho?" I asked her curiously. "I mean of course asides Duel Monsters?"

She placed her finger on her mouth and was lost in thought "Hmmm... I guess a little."

Tea held her fist out "Besides Duel Monsters there was this cute monster raising game I used to play between classes one time. I raised this tiny little turtle into this massive creature with silver cannons on it's back!"

"How about you Tristan?" I asked "What sort of videogames do you like?"

"Hm, well... there was this sort of sci-fi one I liked where the main character had a crowbar. I'm sure it was a first person shooter but I don't remember the name of it though. The only thing I do remember the name of were these headless chicken monsters that liked to jump on people's faces. I think they were called Headcrabs."

Yugi wretched in disgust trying to conjure thoughts of the type of weird and sick games Tristan was into. That lead me to wonder. "How about you Yug'?"

"Well my Grandfather specializes in standard puzzles and games, besides the arcade center I don't remember anything notable."

It came at some sort of surprise to me. You would think that someone exposed to a life of gaming would be well and truly into that sort of thing, especially with the King of Games resting neatly within the golden puzzle around his neck. But then again, the king of games is 5,000 years old and his traditionalist mindset in the Shadow Games would make him oblivious to most of the modern technology around today.

After much crazy banter, school was quickly over and the days past by. I didn't notice it at first, but Kaiba Corps marketing was getting more powerful by the day. Soon all the kids in the class were discussing about this videogame... even the real bookworm types. You could say it was trending faster than a video on the internet tubes.

On the last day before the fated day, I caught a glimpse of who I swore was Marik Ishtar wondering the streets of Domino. I figured he was just there to cause trouble but when I saw the familiar box I had once held in my hand, I knew something was afoot. He too had the Pharaoh's Gate in his hand. I thought it would be best not to confront him and left things alone that day.

On the morning of the following sunrise the students seemed awfully quiet. All the hype building up to the following release day of Pharaoh's Gate by Kaiba Corp was suddenly silenced. You would expect with the amount of money the Corporation pumped into the TV stations people would seem a little happier. But I guess the churning weather didn't really help matter either. The sky was grey and the clouds were bloated with rain. It wasn't long before the water started to drizzle on my coat, forcing me to dash inside the school building. It was there I bumped into some, it was Tea.

I quickly apologised for my rudeness "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Tea just brushed herself off and smiled like she usually did. I wasn't entirely sure how she managed to just do that every time. I thought I better ask what was up. She revealed in her hand a copy of the Pharaoh's Gate game. Apparently she hadn't considered playing it, but there were students in school just handing it out for nothing. Perhaps it was one of those free to play (fee to play) cash grabs that many companies were notorious for these days.

"Actually, I was meaning to speak with you." Tea asked affirmatively. "He wanted to come over to yours and see what the hype was about."

* * *

"...Well to be honest, the Pharaoh started pestering me about it." The boy sat on the bed in Joey's bedroom clutching the Millennium Puzzle in his hands. "As soon as I mentioned it was a game he wanted to take a look at it."

"Well okay" I kind of subconsciously figured something like this would happen. Well, it wasn't long left now. My friends huddled around waiting for me to place in the disk. Without hesitation, I jammed it into the computer console and waited for it to boot. My mates hung around me, looking at the glowing white light of the screen. Behind me, I heard a fizzing crackle from an object reacting behind me... it seemed that Yugi had switched places with Yami so he could allow his ancient partner to observe for himself.

But it didn't last long. Suddenly the screen darkened to a black purple and the face of Yami Marik Ishtar could be seen. He shared a sadistic grin, his face strained from the faked smile so much so veins from underneath his skin looked like it was about to pop out.

I was terrified. This wasn't the game I remembered. And why was Marik on the screen? I thought that Kaiba Corp was involved with this cursed game.

Suddenly, the computer began to talk by itself. "Let's play a game. I heard you like games Pharaoh."

With that the computer screen seemed to burst with purple lights that began to engulf me and my partners. Within moments, my vision was obscured and the next thing I knew... Kuribohs were chasing after me. But I guess I confused that for a dream. Because when I woke up, I was in a prison cell. I saw Marik doing terrible things to Yami in this strange prison. My brain ached as well, but not so severely to the point I was knocked unconscious like Yami was. I'm not sure if it was Marik's personal hatred for the Pharaoh or something more... …but regardless I couldn't exactly do a whole lot until by some dumb luck, Tea arrived and saved our sorry behinds.

**Note: **There are several references to various videogames in this chapter. Tea was playing Pokemon (The blue turtles were Squirtle and Blastoise respectively) and Tristan had played Half-Life. This chapter was also a little tricky to write. Writing in first person is like murder, FML.


	3. Ch3 - The Riddler

**Chapter 3: The Riddler**

* * *

The party of Yami, Joey, Tristan and Tea had reached an obscure vast room composed of bright orange crystals. They hung down from the roof and stuck up from the floor like deadly spikes, it was like looking into a cracked geode. The slabbed flesh coloured tiles had ended and the ground below their feet was nothing more than the scratch of earthy dirt. The tri-haired leader stepped forth first bravely and spun around curiously. Directly ahead was a crystal bath that formed a shallow pool of fresh spring water. The moat like pool surrounded two golden trinkets. At the base of the pond before the altar was an exceptionally large squashed teapot object. It was a golden lamp of sorts. Behind it upon the altar itself, a bare trickle of sunlight shone down on the main centerpiece. That centerpiece was...

"...My Millennium Puzzle!" Yami instinctively thrust his hand forward as he ran towards the object.

"_Yami... don't come any closer...!"_ A silent yet familiar echo of an old friend permeated the Pharaoh's mind.

"Yugi!" The words of his spirit-partner trapped within the Puzzle only made him desire to take back his artifact more. It took Joey Wheeler of all people to step forward and formally warn him to return him to his senses "Hey, I would watch 'yerself. Marik wouldn't make it this easy to just claim your puzzle back just like that. It must be a trap!"

Yami clenched his fist "But I can't just leave him here!"

Joey's face darkened "I know. But we've got to think this through slowly and carefully before just running in blindfolded y'know?"

Tristan nodded "Joey's right! There has to be more to this room than that. The clue must be with that golden lamp there!"

"_How right you are mortal beings." _A new voice echoed the room. Whatever it was the voice was coming from the lamp itself, as if it had a life of its own. Green smoke began to seep from the spout and exploded out to form the upper torso of a muscular man wearing various gold bangles.

"La Jinn, the Mystical Genie of the Lamp!" Yami clutched his Duel Disk sword ready to fight.

Tea placed her hands on her hips and huffed "Quit being so eager Yami! I don't think he wants to fight!"

As Yami looked up to inspect closer, it didn't seem like this particular Duel Monster was intent on attacking.

"_The girl is smarter than she appears. But are you smart enough still to bypass my trials?"_

Tristan fell to the ground on his rear "More challenges? Give me a break man!"

Yami's face darkened "If I want the Puzzle and Yugi back we'll have to co-operate."

The Djinn pointed his finger forwards _"You catch on quickly. It couldn't be simpler. I will present to you three riddles and correctly answering them will grant you both the freedom you seek and the puzzle you desire. Failing to answer at least one correctly will grant you a swift death. You have many chances for redemption."_

Yami folded his arms. Behind him his friends approached and huddled around ready to help him. For once the Pharaoh smiled.

"So be it. I much prefer these sorts of games."

"_In the decades past an evil man in this world ruled tyrannically. He controlled death and fear under the cloak of shadow. Only his son exists today. What was his name?"_

The room was halted by silence. It wasn't anything the party had heard before but they began whispering possible solutions. Joey poked Yami and he turned his head only slightly until one eye met with the boy "Hey, the answer is to do with the story of this game. If I remember correctly, the overall story was to do with an evil Lord of Darkness. It wasn't without the help of a heroic party he was defeated at the end of the board game." Joey then pointed to the green man "Hey Djinn, the answer is the Lord of Darkness!"

The Genie remained quiet for a short while, which was unsettling for the party and then he grinned. _"You are correct. The Lord of Darkness was said to have left his offspring shortly after the Pharaoh of Pharaoh's Gate fled to never be seen again."_

Yami's curiosity piqued greater and greater with each mentioning of the 'Pharaoh' as if the Genie was calling his own name.

"Awwright!" Joey cheered lifting his arms in the air. "Dat was too easy!"

"_Don't get too excited yet, I still have two more questions for you to answer correctly. As I said before, get even one of them wrong and your journey ends here. Are you ready for the next question?"_

With little choice, the team nodded in unison.

"_Excellent. A crimson river that grants life but also death. It is presented to the gods at times of worship. Call out its name."_

"A crimson river that grants life but is also death?" Tristan pondered on the line curiously, placing his hand on his chin.

"It's something I have seen plenty of in my ancient past. It's blood." The embodiment of the spirit Atem worded.

Tea held her hand on her mouth and gasped "Of course!"

"_That was very fast. When animals such as sheep were slaughtered in ancient times, the body and its blood was offered up to the gods as a sacrifice. Blood is required for every mortal to live, but it is also the substance spilled in war. Now there is only one more riddle left to solve."_

Two down, one to go. The group was only one answer off of being free from the strange crystal room and Yami was one step closer to reclaiming back his spirit-partner. "Give us your final riddle already so we can get out of here!"

"_Very well." _The green Genie responded. His expression changed to something darker. _"But this last one won't be so easy I can assure you. Take heed of the answers you have just given me. They will be imperative into succeeding this one."_

"Well, we have the Lord o' Darkness and blood. Seems kinda grim to me," Joey replied.

"Well we aren't exactly in a happy and wonderful place right now. Do not forget that this _is _Marik Ishtar's sick chamber." Yami snappishly replied.

"_In a house on the sea a mother reads his son a story each night always about heroes going out to defeat the bad guys. One day, one of these tales becomes real and he witnesses one of the villains with a flaming torch in hand who looked as if he had just burned down the house of his neighbour. There is no proof that he did it, but this villain is notorious for such deeds. Aside the small boy is a dagger. Does he kill the man or does he let him live?"_

Joey's hand met his face "That's just way too freaking obvious! The boy obviously kills him!"

Tea shook her head "I disagree. The boy didn't see anything."

The Pharaoh interrupted "But you need to remember that the villain had a whole past of wicked deeds."

The green Genie seemed to smile at there bickering. Tristan began ragging his hair out of place "We'll never get out of here if we don't agree on something!"

"Tristan's right" Tea continued placing a finger on her forehead "We need to think about this carefully. La Jinn said that there was no proof that the villain had done that wicked act?"

Tristan and Joey both exchanged confused looks and started flailing their arms. They knew getting it wrong would be a game over. Yami just stood silently and shut his eyes to blank out the two frolicking young adults behind him. In his mind he focused on the story the Genie had told him; imagining a setting where the boy in question is being told a story by his mother. _"A story..." _He began to focus on what Yugi would do. His consciousness was only meters away from him, unable to help him with the solution. It's then it hit him. He pointed out his finger towards the green floating upper torso of a man. "I've got your answer La Jinn!"

Tristan and Joey paused, their arms were still webbed around each other as their iris's shrunk dramatically in the direction of the slender man in front of them. "But eh, Yug', shouldn't we work this out together first?"

Yami seemed to directly ignore the boy "The solution seems obvious at first glance. It would be far too easy to simply kill the villain and be done with it. But just because he looks and behaves the same in the story book does not mean the coincidental incarnation is evil." His mind focused as he visualised a boy standing on the altar in place of the puzzle. It looked like a near duplicate of himself but was considerably shorter despite the altar elevating his stance. His eyes were wider and more childlike, and his golden bands lacked the gravity defying 'spines' his did. The light shining on him was almost symbolic, the Hikari to his Yami. "The story the mother told the boy was just that, a fictional story written by an author."

"_But what of the torch in his hand? Does that not prove the suspect with the torch in hand committed such a devious act?"_

The image of Yami's carbon copy faded and he refocused on the green giant. "He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. If anything, the torch he held was used to engage combat with the real enemy."

The Genie grinned slyly. _"Confident not to fully confer with your comrades and provide an answer that could potentially lead to their deaths. You're placing your reputation in their hands without second thought. I would be weary of that mindest. I will now reveal the answer to the final riddle that may or may not grant you your freedom."_

Tea placed her hand on her mouth in shock. Joey and Tristan were somewhat angered by the Pharaoh's sudden reply. There was a draft of tension in the air until the Genie finally moved his lips. _"You are correct..." _His voice seemed to vanish into the air, alongside his body and a loud click could be heard on the left side of the room as a pile of crystals retracted into the ground like a gateway revealing a new path. The room remained drenched in silence for a while but Yami took no time in stepping forward to claim back his artifact.

"Hold it!" The voice of Tristan echoed behind him.

Yami stopped in his tracks. He felt a tingle of fustration at his friend holding him back from his puzzle.

"How can you just do that!?" Tristan cried out "We're supposed to be working as a team. You could have got us all killed!"

Joey clutched Tristan as he tried to lash out to the man in front of him. "Hey Joey, leave him be." Wheeler had a sense of uncertainty under his own voice.

"Well I got it right didn't I?" Yami let out a quick retort without even looking back and continued his march. Tea didn't say a word, the room fell with an unsettling edge. Still not looking behind him, the man stepped into the pool in front of the golden lamp and reached up to the light on top of the altar. His hands wrapped around the upturned pyramid and almost immediately he could feel the connections between him and his partner be re-established.

But that wasn't all. Within the space of a few minutes a black light flashed and crackled from his Millennium Puzzle and the man fell to the floor, still holding the puzzle artifact in hand. Joey's Kuriboh was the first to fly over and attend to the scene snapped the three other friends out of the dark atmosphere.

Yami saw himself in a black space. In front of him now he could see his smaller reflection more clearly. The boys large eyes reflected back at him. "Pharaoh!"

"Yugi!" Yami cried back. He thrust out his arm and the boy gently clutched it. Little Yugi's body language was much less volatile than his taller ego. "Pharaoh... when we connected right now... it didn't feel quite the same."

"What do you mean?" Yami's iris shrunk.

"Well... I'm glad you're back and all but did everything seem alright to you when you touched the puzzle?"

Yami remained silent.

"Forget I said anything." Little Yugi just rubbed one hand behind his head. "It's probably because you've been away from your puzzle for so long. Anyway... glad to be back partner!"

The room melded back from a black space to a crystal surrounding. Yugi had managed to slip back into his own body. Tristan, Tea and Joey were huddled around Yami Yugi's crouched unconscious self and were launched back when his body suddenly shook into life, like a stiff corpse being revived.

"Cold!" A timid voice shrilled the boy felt the cold water of the crystal pond soak into the lower leggings of his black trousers. He jumped up full of energy like a completely different person and was notably shorter. When he turned around, the friends could see that he was no longer Yami, but Yugi.

Tea smiled and ran to hug the boy her arms quickly wrapped around him until his face was being choked by her bosoms. "I missed you so much! I was so worried!" She ran her arms down the back of his hair in caring affection, like she was stroking a puppy. Joy filled the two accompanying men, and the Kuriboh danced in the air.

"I don't know what been happening, but my head hurts like crazy." Poor Yugi pushed himself from Tea's grasp and began to rub his noggin. "It feels like I've just been put through several roller coasters."

Tea dropped her hands and her face turned dark. "We've been trapped in that game and Marik Ishtar has been doing terrible things to us. Only Miho is unaccounted for."

"What kinds of things?" Yugi asked, like a boy demanding to know what his Christmas presents were.

"I'm not sure what his goal was... but he's been messing with our brains. I think he's being doing other things to us too... but it's a blur. But he seemed especially interested in both me and you, Yugi."

Tristan seemed especially worried now. He huddled over to the door eager to press on. "We need to hurry up and find Miho and then put this sick bastard in his place!"

The group nodded and followed Tristan out of the door where new trials awaited them

**Note:** The title of this chapter comes from a Nightwish song. The scene reflects the riddles the potragonist and his party had to overcome in Shadows of Amn.


	4. Ch4 - Mound of Hollow Darkness

**Pre-Notes:**

** I'm considering rewriting chapter 2 eventually. It's not on my priorities right now, but I do plan to go back to it and clean up the mess at some point.**

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Mound of Hollow Darkness**

* * *

The dark and dismal archways returned. Like water under a bridge the party traversed silently through the dungeons hollow bowels. The boy at the front of the party was especially nervous,but Yugi Moto lead anyway. The smell of the air was soggy and rank, but fortunately it was nothing but a singular path towards the next foreboding destination.

Tea had noticed Yugi had ceased in movement and she proceeded to do the same, noticing a dead end and two doors either side of them. She looked increasingly nervous as the Moto scanned each one. Joey approached him and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Take yer pick Yugi."

"_Which one Pharaoh?"_ Yugi clamped his eyes shut and allowed them to see his alter ego in his mind.

"_I'm sensing dark powers behind both of them. Doesn't Tea know if she freed us?"_

Yugi then spilled his words to Tea about the layout of the dungeon. The girl merely shook her head. "I don't know anything about the layout of this place. I barely remember as much as the rest of you. When I came to, I was near the cells of you guys."

"_This just all seems too easy..." _Yami thought.

No matter what door Yugi picked, he felt a tensing in his head. His palms began to sweat as he reached for one of the heavy pull-rings on the handle of the left door. It was composed of some black oak and various steel reinforcements. Compared to his much frailer body, it was incredibly heavy; causing some strain to his wrists. Tristan couldn't bear to see him struggle and gave him an extra arm. With some grunting and heaving, the door eventually opened from it's rusty holding and the room behind seemed to contain several brightly lit objects like glowing blue light bulbs hidden in the darkness.

Yugi squinted as his eyes tried to focus on them. Stepping into the room, his floor came in contact with silverish-blue metal. In fact, the structure of this room was as strange and as foreign as the last. It looked like some kind of futuristic spaceship interior. There were old panels on the walls flashing all sorts of colours and several wooden crates that stood out from the metal scenery.

The temperature in the room suddenly dropped dramatically as Yugi laid eyes with one of the large blue 'light bulbs'. It was like a giant glass display cabinet. There were several like this around the long room. Each cabinet contained some kind of fluid like a goldfish tank and within some of them... were these things.

Yugi couldn't make out the black mutant figure in the tank, but he could see a single glowing eye look back at him. He took several steps back in fear as it watched him. Something black moved from the side of it like fingers or something... but whatever it was, it was repulsive. Tea felt suddenly uncomfortable and was the first to drop to her knees.

Tristan filled the room with the words that everyone else was unable to. "What are these things!? They don't even look like any Duel Monster I've seen before!?" His voice echoed the room into silence.

The creature from the tank closest to them gave a raspy cry "Hasss sssomeone come to sssave usss? Praissse the Pharoah!"

Anzu had her eyes focused on the ground, trying to keep conscious from the shock. "T-these things in these tanks... ...they used to be people."

Yugi's stomach sank like an anchor thrown into the ocean. He was keen to be sick, but Yami's presence kept him from doing so. He swallowed hard and stood up. "A-are you joking?"

"Y-yes." Tea replied shakily "I remember now... all of it... all of it!" she clutched her head and slunk to the ground. Joey and his Kuriboh crouched to comfort her.

"Our massster betrayed usss," The monster gurgled within the tank. "Hisss attemptsss to make a prosssthetic Lord of Darknesss were in vain... I wasss granted the wisssh by Massster that I could live forever. Inssstead I got thisss..."

Tea clambered onto Tristan and stood herself back up. "I'm not familiar with all of his plans, but Marik was trying to create a fake Lord of Darkness, the one in the prophecy that was said to rise in this era. These poor creatures have been in these tanks for so long. They were promised eternal life... but instead they live in these prisoners forever."

"A fate worse than death? That blows man." Tristan sighed sorrowfully. Despite his casual dialect he seemed genuinely disturbed by all of this.

"I ssshall tell you one valuable clue to this myssstery. But in return I have one simple favour to asssk." The eye coveted at Yugi's Puzzle suspiciously.

"And that is?" The boy asked.

"Jussst by the door leading out of thisss room, there is a large lever. All I asssk is that you pull it downwardsss."

"As long as this isn't some kind of trap..." Yugi had suffered through quite enough of those.

"You have my word..." It was impossible to tell under the distorted voice of this strange black creature if it were bluffing or not. But in its current state it really didn't have many malicious motives, being it could barely move in its own tank as is.

The Kuriboh behind Joey's ear began to screech as Yugi's Millennium Puzzle began to react on its own, engulfing Yugi in a cone of light. In his place stood the similar looking Yami, his eyes belonging more to a man than a boy.

"...huh?" Yami spoke out seeming quite confused. "Hey, what happened here? I didn't ask to come out yet!"

"_I didn't call you either, Pharaoh."_

The eye in the tank gurgled. "Yami of Yugi, Marik Issshtar believesss that he isss the Lord of Darknesss... but that isss far from the truth... Through the other door outssside this room, there is a library. Ssseek knowledge there. If you do manage to break free of thisss labyrinth, sssearch out for a place where joy gathersss."

Yami nodded. He didn't quite understand the meaning of them all, but locked them in the back of his head for safekeeping. His eyes shifted towards the lever across the room by the door they had entered through. Unlike the blue metal theme the room had, this lever was and red, it stuck out like a sore thumb. Stepping past his friends he homes in onto it and reached out. He was unsure if it were a trap or not, but there was only one way to find out.

He clasped his hand on the red handle and pulled the switch downwards. Instantly the lights began to dim on the oversized test tubes causing the creatures inside to stream in pain. It was a horrifying scene, but the party could not take their eyes off of it. Tristan in particular, was especially disturbed. Thoughts churned around his head about the sort of sick things Marik could have been doing to Miho. He felt like shedding tears but held them back. "What if he's doing this to Miho right now!?" He screamed over the silence of the now dead creatures.

Yami sighed and retreated quickly out of the room. "These creatures wanted to be released from their pain and finally be allowed to die. I freed him from his eternal suffering and now he can finally rest in piece."

Joey consoled Tristan. His little Kuriboh friend also silently mimicked his movements. "'Ey come on now Trist' pal. Do you remember how these stories end? The main characters always survive to fight another day."

Joey assisted Tristan and together they slugged out of the room. Tea and Yami had already gone ahead into the next room, the other door that Yugi had left alone earlier. The blonde and brunette duo finally got into another similarly large, shallow room filled with bookcases. Each shelf brimmed with various literature. Unlike the previous rooms, this room was fairly well lit, it looked like it belonged to a regal baron's home. The smaller version of Yugi pranced around curiously inspecting all the covers of the books. It seemed he and Yami had swapped places while Joey and Tristan were away.

Tea on the other hand, became dizzy just by looking up at them all. "Where the heck do we begin?"

Joey picked up a red covered book at random from the bookcase closest to him and opened it up "I didn't think studying and videogames went together." He noticed a living spider popped out of the flaps of the open pages causing him to drop it in surprise, giving a short whelp. "Nyaaahhh!"

Tea couldn't help but chuckle as the book landed on the floor open still. The tiny spider jumped out and scuttled away under the wooden panels of the bookcase it had made its home in. Yugi became attracted with an extremely large open tome up on display on a slanted shelf. It reminded him of one of those religious books used in ceremonies. The pages were ages and yellow, but the typeface was clear and easy to read. It was opened on a chapter entitled 'The Pair of Black Wings'. Skimming it quickly, his face lit up with surprise. "Hey guys! Check this out!"

His friends gathered around him like a campfire horror story was about to be told. "On this book it reads that there were two Lords of Darkness born into this era. They weren't interconnected by family, but they were both born with the blood of the Lord of Darkness in their veins. They called them the Black Wings."

Joey rubbed his face "So there are TWO of these Black Wing guys."

Yugi placed his finger on one of the paragraphs. "Not only that, but it says here that the Black Wings will only find out they are Lords of Darkness when the rage of night awakens them."

Tristan shivered "Creepy."

Joey looked down to the floor with his eyes shut and confessed submissively "Sounds like that would fit Bakura and Marik Ishtar to a 'T alright."

Yami's ghostly figure appeared before Yugi. They both nodded to each other. (To Tristan, Tea and Joey it looked like he was nodding to nobody, but by now they were used to little Yugi talking to his 5,000 year old partner as if he were schizophrenic.) Within seconds, little Yugi took up a new, taller posture and looked back at the folks as Yami. "I wanted to make clear that this won't be so simple. It still doesn't explain why he trapped us in those cages."

Joey grinned "Because he's evil, duh."

Yami briefly scowled at the informal remark "There's always an underlying motive. He wouldn't have gone through all of this nonsense for some important reason. But whatever that reason is, it is only to serve his nihilistic deeds."

Tristan was clueless "So who do you think the Black Wings could be?"

Before Yami could answer, he heard a gasp in the distance. "TEA!"

The brunette in brown leather had one of her arms hanging in the air unable to do anything. It was attached to a giant cobweb that connected to a large red spider sitting on top of one of the bookcases. In the girls current state, she was unable to reach her Duel Disk.

Yami inspected the spider's giant shiny red body and abdomen that seemed to reflect the light of the room like metal. It had bright blue eyes and equally blue zig-zag stripes down its body. The Pharaoh swept out his arm to the hilt of his sword "It's a Karakuri Spider!"

It made a series of buzzing noises and electronic clicks.

Joey already had his greatsword drawn and slashed through the webbing with his blade, freeing Tea. His Kuriboh followed behind. "Hehe, me and Kuri here will deal with this one." He reached for a card in his deck and placed it on the handle of the sword. "Flaming Swordsman, come on out!"

The card flashed and before the blonde appeared a man with orange-red robes. His large broadsword he held flashed a firey blaze. Joey stood close to his duel monster and flaunted his own large sword. "Alright Flame Swordsman, get that spider down here so I can get a good whack at it."

The summoned monster silently nodded at the command and jumped on top of the opposing bookshelf. The mechanical Karakuri spider shot another web from its jaws but the Flame Swordsman dodged neatly to the side before pressing his foot down hard on the ledge of the bookcase, hurtling himself towards the spider. Both he and the spider tumbled down behind the next layers of bookshelves. Joey darted around the bookcase and thwacked his own gold sword onto the spiders body. Despite his amateurish swing, he managed to deal a good chunk of damage to the metal bugs carcass. He steered back a bit to allow his Flame Swordsman to continue his work of defending his summoner.

Yami soon joined into the fray. He drew his blade along and slipped a card into the handle. "I summon you Alpha! The Magnet Warrior!" A short metal robot appeared before Yami, with magnets serving as pauldrons on its body and the hilt of the tiny sword it welded. With the introduction of Tea and Tristan, the spider was quickly overwhelmed in numbers. A final blow by Joey's sword finished it for good, causing it to spark and lightly explode into a heap of scrap metal. One of it's eyes sprung out of its head like a defunct robot.

Joey dusted his hands as his Flame Warrior vanished in front of him. "That's what I really needed after being spooked by one of those things. Not so scary now, are you?" His face zoomed into the head of the spider only to be jolted back as the latches pinning down the other eye sprung out nearly thwacking Joey in the face.

Tristan and Tea couldn't help but giggle. Joey also noticed that Yugi was in the place of Yami having his own share of the mockery. Red faced, Joey tried to shrug off his embarrassment and proceeded to move on to the next room. "Now let's keep going so we can get out of here! Make's me wonder how much more of this crazy joint we have to go through before we reach a conclusion."

The group agreed and headed out of the room of the library, further forward to the light at the end of the tunnel. But for them, there was still a way to go. Because along the new pathway was spills of dry blood...

**Note:**

**In Baldurs Gate 2 there were goblins in the library instead of a spider. The Black Wings are kind of a throwback parody to all the children of Bhaal. There were a lot of them in that game as far as I knew and I don't remember them all.**

**The title of this chapter is taken from the song 'Mound of Hollow Light' from Trails in the Sky/Sora no Kiseki by Nihon Falcom JDK.  
**


	5. Ch5 - First Black Wing

**Pre-Note: The rating went up because of this chapter. Forewarning, it does get pretty bloody.**

* * *

**Chapter 5 :- First Black Wing**

* * *

The bleak doorway ahead loomed. It resembled one of those wooden doors from a medieval dungeon with a slot at the top with several rows of bars. The heavy smell of blood permeated the air and the dry crimson patches on the floor ahead and on the door was unsettling. With each passing step Tea became more and more disturbed somehow already envisioning what was to play out behind the door. Tristan with the cape on his back flailing, pushed ahead of the party and bravely gripped the door. He placed his ears close and heard some weak whimpering behind it.

"...Tristan...?" The voice sounded somewhat lifeless, but familiar.

In a spurt of energy, Tristan suddenly yanked the door wide open. "Miho!" He cried at the top of his lungs. As Yugi and the others tried to focus their eyes on the new light in the room he noticed Tristan frozen cold. The atmosphere quickly darkened as the trail of blood invited them to a large room. Taylor's eyes locked immediately onto a large flat table at the end of the room. Dark oak wood drenched in new, fresh blood. Upon it lay a weak girl that was left bound to it, unable to move. He wanted to scream.

The voice from the body of the girl spoke again "...is that you... Tristan?" The girl with long blue, loose matted hair was unable to even lift her fatigued head. "MIHO!" Tristan ran to her side and became witness to the vile torture she had been put under. Various fresh wounds ran down her body and her orange school clothing was torn. Her face was pale and drained from colour. Yugi and the rest of the party quietly moved in the room in shock, unable to utter a word.

Tristan placed his hand on the metal shackles that bound her to the table, with a strong yank, he freed the metal from the bark allowing one of her arms to slip free. It was then her lips moved again "...is that you... Tristan?" a small drop of water formed at her eye. "I can't see you... am I dying Tristan? Am I going to die?"

"No!" He cried back, withholding the tears. He placed his hand around her head and hugged her tightly.

Yugi bit his lip. He was enraged by the fact that someone had the gall to do such a thing. Tea stepped forward "I... I saw this..."

"Why didn't you say anything!?" Tristan shouted back in frustration.

"Marik Ishtar... he kept cutting with his rod and kept showing me. 'Do you see?', 'Do you see?' I didn't understand what he meant."

"QUIET!" Tristan cried as he held Miho tighter. "I don't want to hear it!"

"...I don't want to hear you guys fighting..." Miho wimpered. "Tristan... I'd like it if you smiled more for me... like you used to..." With that, the girl became limp in his arms as she slipped into unconsciousness. Words escaped Tristan. "Miho... … MIHO!"

The party could do little but watch as Tristan cried over the lifeless body of the one he loved. Yugi, of all people couldn't take it anymore. He could feel the overwhelming rage build as the Pharaoh within him wretched in disgust at Marik's cursed actions. It was then the eye on the Millennium darkened and its iris began to glow a sinister red. All of a sudden, black light crackled from it, just as it did before when Yugi reunited with Yami for the first time. "It's that same dark feeling again!"

Across the rooms there was scatters of bones that began to clatter and move in a flash of magic they rose and formed skeletal humanoids. Before Joey had the chance to run to Tristan, he was grabbed behind by a black devil-winged imp. "Ey, where did you come from?"

Before Yugi had a chance to react, Yami forced himself control of his body and grabbed the black demon outright by the neck. With some crazy might, he pulled it off Joey and slammed it to the ground. The Pharaoh pulled the sword from his sheathe, which emitted a red glow, much like his puzzle. He place his foot on the belly of the creature while it struggled and then the Pharaoh hovered the blade tip of the sword over its neck. "I've had quite enough of your interference!" His brows lowered but then he was interrupted by a voice in his head.

"_Stop it Pharaoh! You're not thinking properly! I think there's another force at work!" _Little Yugi pleaded. Within the Puzzle, little Yugi could hear the intense cries of _something_. Whatever it was, it didn't sound friendly or human.

Yami seemed to ignore Yugi and plunged the sword in the creature he stood upon, showering the floor in green monster fluid. The imps cries where quickly silenced. Tea and Joey became occupied trying to fend of skeletons but there was one more that crept up behind Tristan who still had his attention locked firmly on Miho.

"Watch out!" Tea cried.

Yami had only just realised the danger his other friend was in, but was too far away to do anything. The Skeleton already had its sword raised, ready to drop on Taylor's head. It was at that moment the side door burst open. Through it leapt a tall man in a white thief robe; it looked like something straight out of Assassins Creed. He homed in on the skeleton by Tristan and performed a slick roundhouse kick, connecting his boot to its head, causing it to fly off and shatter on the wall on the other side of the room. He stood up to face the two skeletons attacking Joey and Tea and spread out his arms revealing two duel monster cards. Out of them emerged two heads of white roaring dragons ghosts that reached out and snapped the remaining skeletons to pieces.

Yami staggered. The red light from his puzzle finally faded and it returned to its shimmering gold colour. A male voice hidden under the assassin robes uttered quietly to himself "He's the one."

The Pharaoh in the golden armour finally came to his senses and noticed the new character across the room. "Who are you? An enemy?"

"None of the kind." The man in the robes replied as he reached for his head to pull it down. He revealed his short brown hair and blue cold eyes. It seemed like he never smiled in a day of his life.

Joey gasped in suprise when he realised this was the same man that had harassed Yugi's Grandfather earlier "Seto Kaiba! The President of Kaiba Corporation!"

Seto gave Joey the eye "Kaiba Corpo-what?"

Tea cocked her head to the side "Does he not remember either?"

Seto gave a scorned look "Look pal, the only organisation I run is the Guild of Shadows in Pharaoh's Gate. This dungeon is in the center of this city, the damn feds completely ignored the sick things going on here. So I came to do something about it. Only now is the magic council really catching on."

"He really thinks he's part of the world in this game, doesn't he?" Tea remarked.

Seto moved over to Tristan's side and placed two fingers under Miho's neck. "She has a pulse, but she'll need medical attention as soon as possible, or she won't make it." He drew a blade from his pocket and cut away the last remaining binds that held her. If I take her back to the guild now, I might be able to do something about it."

Tristan sighed with relief. Seto's words still seemed cold when he was speaking neutrally, but anything positive concerning Miho's well-being would raise Tristan's spirits at this point.

Seto then turned back to the Pharaoh "You with the ridiculous haircut, what is your name?"

"Yami Yugi." He quickly replied.

"I would be especially careful for your welfare. Even if you escape this place, Marik Ishtar will not stop until he claims your power."

"What power...? You mean my Puzzle?" Yami replied clutching it.

"Are you really that obnoxious? The way those creatures attacked you... they were after your power. You are one of the Black Wings after all!"

"...I'm a what...?"

"I'm not familiar with the whole lore around it. But there are many evil people in this world that want your blood. The blood that entitles you to the throne of the great Underdark!"

Yami was still clueless, but speechless at the revelation. Tea edged close into the Pharaoh's personal space. "It would explain why Marik Ishtar was putting you through so much torture."

Seto chuckled "Like many others, that crazy loon is jealous, pure and simple. You may not know it yet, but there are powers within you even you should be careful of. If you want to learn more, I suggest we get the hell out of here."

Kaiba lifted Miho's unconscious body and slung her over his shoulder "If you don't mind me, I'm going to go ahead. It's up to you to find my Guild." With that, the tall man dashed out the room at an incredible speed.

Yami had been silenced by Kaiba's revelation. He was one of these Black Wings? But he wasn't evil at heart... he was sure of it. His mood sunk as he pondered about it.

"Hey Yug'" said Joey "I know you're feeling a little low right now, but we all know first hand that you aren't a bad person! Now come on, Kaiba implied that the exit is around here right?"

The party finally reunited and continued through the door that Seto had left through. Yami still felt depressed. Ever since he awoke from the chambers his mind wasn't in the right place, and that wasn't just because of Marik's torture. Thinking back to what the mutant being in the tank told him, it had mentioned that Marik being one of the new Lord of Darkness was far from the truth. Perhaps he was trying to take the powers from Yami... but the question still remained... ...what powers?

The ability to mindcrush and purify those with dark hearts? It didn't seem to fit in well considering Marik was disinterested in what Yami was able to do with his Puzzle anyway. His only interest was collecting the Millennium items and that was about it. But then again, this was a virtual world and Kaiba himself didn't seem to remember what he had been doing in the real world. Anything was possible at this point. Little Yugi bickered in his mind _"Okay, so after you just possessed me without asking, can I have my body back now?"_

"I'm sorry Yugi, I won't do it again." He relaxed his arms and allowed Yugi to retake control of the shared body. Yami felt he could do with a good rest and focus on the future ahead anyway.

Tea echoed out in joy "It's beautiful!"

Joey, Tristan and Yugi mimicked gasps as they laid witness to an unusually clean living room. It had regal desks and chairs, with various mounted decorations on the wall. There was even a tall vase in the corner with a set of flowers in. Yugi curiously followed the flying Kuriboh who seemed even more fascinated than the rest. "It's like looking into a dolls house. Nothing in this room has been touched!"

It was kind of weird for Yugi to to picture Marik living in a place like this. It didn't match his blood-crazy character. "It's almost disturbing to look at."

"To right." Joey responded "Everything in this room is too neat. I don't like it one bit!"

Tristan chuckled "Is that because your own room isn't as neat as this?"

"Hey! Watch it there pal!"

There wasn't much to do in this room, so the party decided to move on. Just as Yugi wondered how much further they needed to go, he saw light down a corridor connected to a set of stairs and pointed at it excitedly. "Hey look at that guys!"

The three sighed with relief. Despite their tired legs, they began to run towards the inviting lights. The short puzzle wielding boy took a first step with his trainer onto the stairs and launched himself up. Standing atop, he could see a large pathway leading out to a collection of stony grey rubble. Scattered along the path, there were fresh corpses of soldiers. Some still moved as a battle seemed to wage ahead of them. The party kept focus on the path as they drew closer to the clatter of swords and the raging scream of monsters battling it out, as if it were some kind of war zone. The danger that lay in wake ahead of them was far from over.

Making use of the distraction, they ran out to see a familiar man engaging combat with some hooded men wearing outfits similar to Seto Kaiba's but instead were brown instead of white. Each man held a set of blades in their hands. Marik Ishtar was single handily battling these men who had valiantly defended and let their Guild of Shadows leader escape. Marik gave a sly grin. "You worthless insects do not know what kind of person you face. I shall enjoy watching you suffer by my hands!" He held out his rod and deadly lightning magic erupted from its tip instantly killing one of the thieves and forcing the rest to flee. Cackling wildly, he turned to see the party behind him.

"So Black Wing, you were more resourceful than I thought." Mariks comment seemed aimed directly at Yugi.

Tea stepped in front of Yugi with her hand spread out. She gripped one of her cards in her hands ready. "You're not going to torture us any more!"

"Torture? Silly girl, you don't understand what I'm doing do you?"

"I don't care what you're doing! Let us go!" Tea pulled out the bow from her back and placed down the card from her hand to the bow. Somehow, it didn't activate.

Marik sneered "I won't leave, not when I'm so close to unlocking your power!" Marik held out his rod and shot a similar quick lightning bolt directed straight for Yugi and Tea, but at that brief second when the bolt was inches away from her body, the card on her bows loading area shined and a white magic barrier formed around both her and Yugi. The shield redirected the strike back at Marik, who tightened his focus and stepped to the side, dodging his own lightning as it scathed the stone brick behind him. With a zap of light, five figures around Marik and the party appeared. Several old men that looked like wizards from story book tales complete with cowels surrounded them. One of them shouted "This is an unsanctioned use of magical energy! You shall cease your fighting at once!" The antagonistic authoritative voice shouted down like a prosecutor in a court room.

Marik shot a bolt at one of the men in retaliation, destroying one into bloody pieces. The mages were unwavered by his offense. "Our numbers are many. You will be overwhelmed by us."

Ishtar bit his lip "Trying to play with me are you? Fine. Take me but you'll take the girl as well."

"But I haven't done anything wrong!" Tea cried, rejecting the madman's statements.

The main wizard raise a furry white eyebrow at the girl "The summoning and conjuration of magic in this town is illegal. You will be taken into custody with this man!"

Tristan gritted his teeth "Shit..."

"No!" Yugi cried. But it was already too late. The wizards all began to spin their arms and along with Tea and Marik, they all vanished in a flash of light. "Just... just what do we do now?" Yugi felt empty inside.

**Note: **

**To those few reading who are familiar with Baldurs Gate, the roles of the characters are like so:-**

**Yugi/Yami = Main Character**

**Tea Gardner = Imoen**

**Joey Wheeler + Kuriboh = Minsc and Boo**

**Tristan Taylor = Jaheira**

**Miho Nosaka = Khalid**

**Seto Kaiba = Yoshimo**

**The last part of the chapter directly reflects that famous opening scene.**


	6. Ch6 - Serenity and the Duke

**Pre-Note:- **

**Big thanks to The Man with Imagination for the wonderful encouragement! It's because of this and many other wonderful things that keeps me writing so diligently! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far, there will be plenty more to come!**

* * *

**Chapter 6:- Serenity and the Duke**

* * *

Relaxation was far from over. The air seemed devoid of danger right now but the battle wounds of the outside of the dungeon the group had escaped from was evident. Yugi still hadn't got over the loss of Tea who had risked her life to save him. With Kaiba not even remembering his life outside the Shadow Game, it seemed next to impossible for them to find a way to leave. But the more Yugi stayed, the more uncomfortable he felt. While the sun shined brightly upon him, he knew that obstacles in the adventure were yet to come. He pulled his hands out in front of his face "I don't think I even know myself anymore..."

A ghostly hand gripped his shoulder. Behind him, the ghost of Yami Yugi leant over. _"As long as we're together Yugi, we will make it. Trust me."_

Yugi nodded "Thanks Pharaoh."

"_Speaking of which, look over there." _The spirit pointed towards a set of coloured striped tents in the distance. It was then it hit Yugi "A place where joy gathers...!"

"_Perhaps we can find out more about the Black Wing if we head over there."_

Yugi was impressed by the Pharaoh's deduction as the spirit vanished into thin air. Little Yugi ran towards the collection of cloth buildings.

"Hey, where are you going!? You're a little on the old side for children's carnivals you know!" Tristan goaded as he chased him from behind.

Joey sighed. "It's just one thing after another isn't it little Kuri?" The brown fluff ball mimicked his expression, even going as far to try and copy his body language. "Anyway" The blonde continued. "We better catch up to them!"

Kuri nodded in agreement and they chased after Tristan and Yugi.

Without warning, Yugi suddenly took a sharp turn around the corner, nearly knocking a noblewoman senseless. "Oh I say!" She moaned with a snobbish voice, placing her hands on her hips. "Sorry 'mam!" The little boy quickly apologised before moving on. Yugi had actually caught eye of a raven haired man ahead of him. His red bandanna he wore stuck out like a black eye. On one of his ear lobes hung some familiar looking dice. "Hey is that Duke Devlin?" Yugi's eyes widened in surprise. And he stepped closer.

Around him he could see various large cages like a zoo, with various creatures in side. Some were normal animals like Grizzly Bears and others were Duel Monsters. A group of small children poked their hand into the bars of one of the cages housing a lion-faced Chimera. Its long green snake tail hissed and snapped as it was teased causing them to tumble backwards onto the dirt. Safe to say, if PETA saw something like this, they wouldn't be all that happy.

Yugi finally caught up to Duke. "Hey!

The raven haired man tilted his head back as he recognised his own name being called. His eyes were jade green and the right eye had a heavy streak of eye-liner reaching down to his upper cheek. "Have we met before?"

"Duke Delvin, don't you recognise us?" Yugi felt a little shunned but he reminded himself that Duke may not be fully aware of what's going on, just like Kaiba.

"I'm sure I recognise that ridiculous hairstyle from some joint, but I can't put my finger on it. Fortunately thinking about who you are is the least of my problems so far."

"What's going on?" Yugi further inquired.

Duke placed a single finger on his forehead "Well you see, I was supposed to be putting on a show today for my crowd but people are too terrified to enter the tent. Apparently people aren't coming out when they go inside. I'm too creeped out to check it on my own. Need a good blade or something to fend of the devils." He scanned Yugi and his two fellow partners and eyed their equipment "You guys seem fit for helping me out! There was this one chick called Serenity who was supposed to perform with me, but she hasn't returned either."

"Me sisters here too!?" Joey was surprised and determined "If she's in there she could be in big trouble Yug'! We got to save her!"

"I'm liking your enthusiasm dude. Let me show you which tent it is."

The trio dodged past huddles of various visitors in archaic choices of casual clothing. Only Duke Delvin really stood out, wearing the same get up he did in the real world consisting of tight black leather pants and a sleek red coat. Within minutes, they finally reached their destination. At the front of the largest red and white striped carnival tent lay a gaping black hole of a doorway. It was like a black void sucking them in. Yugi felt a tingling sensation in his body. "It's like I can feel intense radiation of danger lurking behind that door."

The ghost of Yami slid outside his body to the side of him. _"Yugi, I think our ability of the Black Wing allows us to feel dark energy when it is present. We should take our next steps with the utmost of caution."_

"Well said Pharaoh. I'll be careful." Yugi nodded as his ghostly doppelgänger vanished.

Duke gave an odd look at little Yugi. "Dude... were you just talking to yourself?"

Yugi blushed. He had forgotten that Delvin didn't entirely remember everything about Yugi and that included his alter ego within his Millennium Puzzle.

Joey cracked his knuckles. "Well whatever. I'm going ahead!"

"Hey wait Joey!" Yugi held out his hand to stop the young adult, but he was already long gone. Reluctantly, Yugi, Tristan and Duke decided to follow.

Joey Wheeler was greeted by a strange vast and wide stone room. It didn't match up to the interior of a tent, in fact, he could swear that the inside was bigger. The room was circular much like the tent itself and a river ran around in a clockwise fashion accompanied by stone bridges to the center. Joey slowly walked around and saw a girl pass him by that looked oddly familiar. Her hair was long and brown like hazelnut and she wore a pink silk shirt and short dress. The thing that stuck out the most was a pair of large, white folded wings attached to her back.

"Serenity?" Joey peeped. She wasn't moving very quickly and he quickly caught up with her. However with each word he spouted from his mouth she promptly ignored him as if he wasn't there. He assumed it was the same case with Duke Delvin but she was his sister... he had to get her to remember.

Joey thought it was best to try again "Hey Serenity, it's your big brother Joey Wheeler! I've come to rescue you!"

He finally got the girl to pause and she turned around to meet him face to face. "You're from the outside aren't you?"

Outside? The real world? Did Serenity actually remember him? Excitement began to build inside him "Yeah! Well of course!"

"Well in that case I have a favour to ask of you." Serenity finished as the rest of the party finally caught up with Joey.

Yugi glanced around before he was spoken to by an all-too-familiar voice in his head. _"Yugi... I would be especially careful in this place. It's almost like we've been sent into another dimension. The walls and floors do not match with the interior outside that carnival tent." _Yami warned.

Little Yugi just nodded in response "Okay Pharaoh."

"Okay, now that you're done talking to yourself." Duke interrupted "That girl over there that your friend is with is one of my close friends. But then the creep in charge of this place created some massive illusion and all the people who entered here are now trapped."

"Joey" Serenity placed her hand under the blondes neck and looked into his eyes. Her own eyes seemed drained and devoid of pupils, "If that is your name... you must help your little sister..."

Wheeler felt the whole premise a little awkward "Anything you want sis!"

"This cruel man has kept me trapped here. His name is Eradi... he created vile illusions of monsters wants them to eat us!" Serenity pointed to a humongous Karakuri spider. Oddly the spider didn't seem intent on moving or attacking the people nearby. Regardless these people pointed and jeered at it. "Sick, repulsive creature!"

Joey grabbed the sword on his back in readiness. "Doesn't seem all that dangerous to me."

"It's all part of Eradi's illusion. He makes the monsters appear quiet and tame... some will even beg for mercy... but it is all part of his evil mind games. They will quickly devour you when you least expect it!"

Yugi had wondered off away from Joey and the group. Around the room he could see people and various loose deul monsters. All the humans were pointing and jeering at the monsters like bullys whilst the creatures didn't fight back. _"You would think much like the Chimera back in that cage outside, one of these creatures would have bitten off a hand or two by now."_

"You're right Pharaoh." Noticing a door at the other end of the room, he instinctively made his way to it. However, his path was blocked by a monstrous harpy lady. Despite her ragged appearance, she let out an innocent cry "Please! Don't listen to those humans!"

Duke and Tristan eventually caught up. Joey heard the words of the harpy in the distance questioning whether he should draw his sword or not. Serenity placed her hand on his "Ignore that monster. It's part of Eradi's illusion to trick you!"

The harpy lady resumed her plea. "Please! It is part of Eradi's illusion! Those humans... they are the monsters!"

Yugi was torn. He didn't know who to believe. Joey seemed set on trusting Serenity. She too was one of Moto's friends. He decided to consult the spirit within his Millennium Puzzle. _"Don't you feel it Yugi?"_Yami placed both his ghostly hands on either of Moto's shoulders. _"I can sense dark powers at work in this very room. If only we could dispel it."_

"You're right but how?"

"_Look around you. Do those humans seem... odd to you?"_

"Yeah, treating those Duel Monsters as nothing they're behaving like... Pharaoh that's it!" Yugi cried out to Joey Wheeler "Don't listen to that Serenity Joey! It's a fake!"

"What is he talking about?" Joey squinted with his large sword in hand. Serenity shook her head "He is being tricked by that Harpy Lady. His words are meaningless. Now, only by killing the monsters in this room will we be able to leave and finally confront Eradi!" She edged into Joey's personal space, freaking him out a little. "Joey... what's with that look? Don't you trust your sister?"

"I do but..."

"Then what's the problem? Why does your hand shake? Why are you hesitating?" Serenity seemed more and more frustrated.

The harpy sighed "It looks like nothing will get through to that man, so I'll have to do it myself." The feathered creature stepped past Yugi and approached the two.

"Stay back monster!" Serenity cried as she lashed out violently. The harpy took a quick step back and Joey's fluffy Kuriboh shuddered. The feathered woman held out a claw "Even this Kuriboh doesn't know what to think... Eradi's spell really is magnificent."

"Joey! Why won't you rescue us!" Serenity cried echoing the room, gathering the attention of the other commoners nearby. They abandoned the monsters and slowly began to gather around to the drama that was unfolding.

"I-I don't know if I can believe you! Either of you" Joey screamed. "I-I'm just so confused right now..."

Tristan expressed his support "We're with you Joey! We know you can make the right choice!"

"_Tristan is right,"_ Wheeler thought to himself, tightening his fists. _"I need to go with what my heart tells me!"_He lifted his finger and pointed at his suspect. Yugi, Yami, Tristan and Duke opened their mouths in suprise. The finger pointed directly at the forehead of Serenity.

"Are you out of your mind? You don't have any proof!" She retorted.

Joey shrugged one shoulder "You may be right, but I'm going with my gut!"

Both Yugi and Yami's spirit seemed to nod together as the conclusion unfurled. With a spark of distracting gold light Yami took possession of Moto's body causing his brows to lower and his stature to appear more imposing. "Together Yugi, we will call out our powers of the Black Wing! Undo your illusion!" Once again, the light of the Millennium Puzzles central eye glowed a dark red and darkness enveloped the commoners causing Serenity and the people around her to struggle and moan. Joey felt somewhat disturbed watching what looked like his sister suffer through invisible black pain, but it was soon apparent all was not what it seemed.

The body of her and the men and women vanished, with exception of the party and the duel monsters, to reveal black shadows. Joey found himself being grabbed by the waste and pulled back as the shadow of what was supposed to be Serenity. The ghostly human apparition with a pair of white void eyes silently drew closer, as did the other black beings around it.

"They're just doppelgängers!" Joey confirmed.

The Harpy Lady nodded. "Yes. Eradi created illusions to make the people appear as monsters and the monsters appear as people, in the hope a band of adventurers would band together and unknowingly slaughter innocents... all for his goal."

"What was that goal exactly?"

"He wanted to draw out the Black Wing, so he can have his powers all to himself!"

"So he's really after Yug and Yami..." Joey was curious. He pushed free of the grip of the Harpy Lady and drew his sword to warn off the approaching shadows. "I'm not sure what he wants, but they gotta go through me first!"

Tristan grabbed his shoulder "Not alone you're not."

"We're all standing along side you." Yami added.

"Ohh yeah!" Joey pumped his fist in the air before tightly focusing on the real monsters "Let's do this, Brooklyn style!"

"I still don't remember who you guys are, but I like the cut of your jip." Duke Delvin confessed flicking back his black, silky hair.

The 'Serenity' ghost lunged but Wheeler was faster, plunging his long gold sword into the spirits neck. "Yeah... like this I don't have to worry about my real sister Serenity from getting hurt!"

Tristan placed a card down on his Mace Duel Disk. "I activate the Swords of Revealing Light!"

From seemingly nowhere, golden swords of Damocles rained down from the sky and held the remaining bunch of shadows in place "Yami Yugi, I leave the rest to you!"

"Okay!" He responded raising his sword "Are you ready Yugi?"

Little Yugi took a moment to glance around at his internal soul room within the Millennium Puzzle. A floor decorated in pastel and royal blue lino slabs and various toys to symbolise his childish nature. Ahead of his soul room, the stone door seemed to open by itself and behind it revealed a black void.

"Yugi?" Yami called again. He still hadn't received an immediate answer to act upon.

Little Yugi remained silent as he tried to contemplate what was happening, but before he knew it, the door of the soul room shut by itself and he shook off the vision. _"I'm sorry Pharaoh."_

"Are you quite alright? Did something happen?"

"_No. Nothing. Must have been my imagination. Go ahead, I'm ready when you are."_

"Tsch. Stuff of imagination doesn't just happen while you're in your soul room." Yami grumbled while lowering his sword which was aimed directly at the creatures bound by the swords. He pulled a random card from his deck with his free hand and took one quick look at it. "This is all I need."

He placed it down onto the hilt of his sword "I call thee! Dark Magician!"

A wizard dressed in purple robes and an overly tall hat materialized into view. He clenched a metallic staff in his fist and raised it towards Yami's oppressors.

"Destroy them with your magic powers!"

As the Dark Magician charged his staff, another magic came into play from the Puzzle Yami held around his neck. The Pharaoh could feel a well of dark power brimming inside himself ready to flow out. He gritted his teeth against this dark force, and watched as his Dark Magician evolved into the Dark Magician of Chaos. A more slender magician stood before him, with long black flowing hair and an equally night drenched suit.

"What is this foreign power? I didn't ask to summon this..." Yami questioned, trying to ignore the clutter of thoughts in his head. For some reason or another, he couldn't connect to Yugi.

The Chaos wizard tipped its staff forward and shot a condensed ray of green and magenta colours and quickly detonated the last of the demons held by the swords that bound them. Tristan cheered "Alright Yugi! Way to go!" However, his expression quickly changed when he caught eye of the shining red light from Yami's Puzzle. He became pale over the affair and dropped to his knees, causing his Dark Magician of Chaos to quickly vanish. His allies rushed to his side as Duke Delvin and the Harpy Lady looked with some concern.

Tristan lifted Yami's body. Somewhere between Taylor's arrival, he had slipped into unconsciousness "Hey! Wake up! Talk to me buddy!"

Words failed to reach the Pharaoh.


	7. Ch7 - Giving it Up, Giving it In

**Chapter 7:- Giving it Up, Giving it In**

* * *

"Yami... Yami..." the voice of a small boy spoke out.

"Who is that?" Yami Yugi sat up slowly at the call of his name, but noticed a place he didn't recognise. His friends didn't surround him, nor did the stone room; instead he saw a dark cold space and a graveled pathway. His near-direct reflection looked back before him. "Yugi," he rasped.

Little Yugi was not see-through like a ghost any more. He stood over him. "Pharaoh. Good to see you awake."

"But where are my friends? Why are we both inside the Millennium Puzzle?"

"Pharaoh listen. Something is going terribly wrong. Every time I come back to this place, I feel more and more frightened. There are cries of something here that shouldn't be."

Yami glanced around inspecting the setting. Standing up for a better view, he could see a long pathway connecting to hundreds if not thousands of staircases that connected to doors that seemingly went nowhere. Some even defied gravity, with stairways reaching up impossible 90 degree angles, some even loomed directly over his head. "Of what exactly?"

"That's what I want to know. Even since Tea vanished, it's been getting louder and louder."

"So if we don't find her soon..."

"Whatever it is... will show itself." Yugi confirmed. "I think this Black Wing is dangerous Yami. Somehow Tea was able to keep the power in check, but without her, it's causing both us and the Puzzle to go haywire."

"What makes you think it was Tea? What could she possibly do?"

"I don't know. But it's something to do with this RPG. And at the rate this is going..."

Yami swung his fit in the air "...but this is just a game Yugi!"

The boy merely shook his head "No, it's a Shadow Game. Everything that happens here, as unrealistic as it appears DOES happen. Are you forgetting what nearly happened to you earlier?"

"I..." The Pharaoh was lost for words.

"For a short period of time I completely lost all connections with you! I was bound by something... something terrible. It was black and... it wouldn't let me go! This world of the Puzzle is owned by you... so you must know what's going on with it!" Yugi interrupted. He seemed scolding, but his blank expression shared some of his desperation and fear. "I.. I was sure I was going to die here. Have my heart eaten by some monster... surely you know what it is!"

"I...I don't know..." Strangely for Yami, he felt at a loss of confidence for a change. He knew his partner spoke the truth in his words.

"I just don't want anything bad to happen to you Pharaoh... "

"It's my apology. If this place is as dangerous as you say, then I will take control of it for the meantime. Only call me when absolute necessary." Yami seemed keen to defend Yugi by tooth and nail. However the boy still felt concerned for the former ancient rulers well-being, as he would be left at the brunt of the Millennium Puzzle abnormal behaviour. But he knew that alone, it wasn't entirely the Puzzle at fault. Despite being a mere spirit currently, he could feel the unnatural sting of some external force. Suddenly, Yugi felt himself falling backwards, and the world around him fell into darkness.

* * *

Eyes flickered open. "Hey he's waking up!" Tristan's face could be seen directly above as Yugi slowly came to. His hair lacked the three extra gold bangs, which signified Yami's control. With the help of Tristan and the open arm of Joey, he managed to get up. "What just happened? I lost contact with the Pharaoh for a short while when I was inside the puzzle."

Duke flicked his hair as he usually did. While he didn't remember Yugi, he still behaved as the old Duke Devlin they all knew and loved "Your taller, prettier version blew a major fuse man."

"Hey!" Yugi stomped his foot "What do you mean prettier!?"

Everyone just chuckled. Little Yugi could even see the Harpy Lady behind him giggle slightly, it made him feel less nervous. He had to remember that these Duel Monsters were not Duel Monsters at all, just an illusion by Eradi. "We should keep moving."

The Harpy Lady nodded "Yes. His illusion magic is strong, but it is also limited. With the imposters dead it should allow us to directly confront Eradi in the next room. If it's not too much to ask..." Harpy lady took a quick glance towards Joey "Is it alright if I come with you?"

"Sure..." Joey replied. "I don't see any problems."

"I'm fine with it." Tristan replied scuffling his feet across the stone pathway. "Just ahead is another doorway. I think it might lead us to our guy!"

The team nodded and made their way through the large room to the second black void of the door that beckoned out to them.

In no time at all, they stood before the black portal in front of them. Yugi took the first leap of faith, placing his hand in the black space, consuming it. Before long he inserted his entire body bravely and his allies did the same. On the other side of the gateway was a building interior that looked like the entrance all of a white, luxurious mansion. Yugi scanned across the white marble floors, until his eyes touched with a suit of silver armour.

It moved. It turned around slowly. It looked like armour that belonged to some kind of crusader or a servant of god. While most of his body was encased in silver, his tunic was blue and white cloth with a yellow Ankh decorated upon it. He had two spiked imposing pauldrons and a creepy steel helm that belonged to a brute. It was like a villan out of a Medieval role playing game.

"...I am Eradi. How did you get past my illusionary magic?" His presence alone was dominating, making even Joey seem weak and helpless. "That weirdo is scary. In more ways than one," Wheeler scorned.

"You dare mock my presence? Look at whom you face," the knight in armour sneered.

Yugi leapt bravely forward and drew his sword out almost immediately. It was like a small man trying to face off against a giant, malevolent dragon. "I won't have you belittle us!"

Joey above all, was impressed by his confidence. "Hey Yugi... you're not usually so bold."

"Thanks Joey." Yugi replied, keening his blade and keeping direct focus on his target "But we've faced far worse ordeals than this."

Eradi clutched his gauntlet in a menacing way "You may talk big, but you're no more than a little man!"

"That may be true..." little Yugi crept closer and closer forwards. His hands shook a little under fear, but he kept up his guard and merely grinned "But you're just an illusion!"

Metal clanked as Eradi gasped in surprised and held his arms up "T-that's not true!"

Yugi kept his advance "Oh? But your body language says otherwise."

"N-no! Stop, don't come any closer!" Suddenly the knight dropped to his knees. The boy now towered over him with his sword in his hand. The villainous knight clutched his head "No! I give up! I surrender! Please... let me go!"

Yugi stood their quietly for a moment.

"Hey Yug', what's up?" Joey asked from some distance away. He still stood by Tristan and the others.

Poor Yugi tightened his grip on the handle of his weapon duel disk. A voice in his head of Yami further pestered him. _"Why do you hesitate?"_

"I can't kill a man."

"_But he caused so many people to suffer. So many people to die needlessly."_

"That doesn't give me a reason to kill him for his crimes!"

The cowardly knight removed his hands from his head and looked up to take a peep at the boy openly talking to himself. _"If you need to, I can take over."_

"But that's... that's not going to help."

_If you don't kill him, I will!"_

Eradi had stopped shaking at this point and was confused by the events that were unfolding. "You've really lost it haven't you?" The knight leapt to his feet and grabbed Yugi by one of the arms and pulled him close to his own body, holding him as a hostage. His Duel Disk slipped out of his hand and dropped to the floor making a clanging sound as if a metal kitchen pot had hit the ground.

"You snake!" Joey ran to Yugi's aid but Eradi placed one of his hands around little Yugi's neck. The vile knight began laughing. "That was too easy! Move one inch and this guy with the stupid hair gets it!"

"You... YUGI!" Joey decided to keep his focus on making sure Yugi was safe. He noticed the boy didn't struggle, in fact, he seemed like he was out of it. His eyes were shut in a state of unconsciousness, but not enough so to make his legs go limp.

"So how do you like this?" Eradi cackled, playing with one of Yugi's arms like a doll "He's on another planet! And I can do whatever I so please." He giggled as he continuely began to manipulate his arms.

But then the laughing stopped.

One arm ripped free of Eradi's control and the hand placed itself firmly on the knight's arm, clamping it in place. It gripped hard, cutting straight through his illusionary armour and dug into his flesh. The fraud knight screamed in pain. He saw a blue cluff covering the arm, belonging to none other than Yugi. "I warned him." A voice came from Yugi's lowered head. It was deepened in comparison to normal Little Yugi.

"Who... just who are you... AHHH!" Eradi let out a horrific scream as he felt the bones crack in his arm as it twisted at the demand of Yugi's wrist.

"I AM YAMI YUGI!" His manoeuvre allowed him to break free and somehow shattered the illusion in the room. "This mesmerism ends here!"

The room reverted to the interior of a circus tent. The party stood in the middle of the performance grounds while the rest of the captives sat in a huddle some distance away. The Duel Monsters were no longer under the influence of Eradi and returned to human form.

Joey nearly fell over in suprise as he saw a familiar face beside him. "Serenity!?"

The girl with long brown hair, pink dress and white wings nodded. "Yes big brother. Eradi's mind tricks made me appear as a Harpy."

"Brother? You remember me?"

"No but..." Serenity clasped her hands together nervously. "There's something about you I cannot deny. I know you are my brother even though I don't remember the circumstances. But after the gracious acts you performed... I think I can believe."

Joey and Serenity's reunion was interrupted by the Pharaoh shouting in the background and the culprit screaming in terror. Eradi's arm trickled blood and he bandaged it with the sleeve of his own arm. He was no longer a tall imposing knight, he was no more than a short, chubby man with scraggy blonde hair. "You're some kinda madman aren't ye?"

Yami loomed like a shadow. The poor lighting inside the tent made him appear nothing more than an eerie silhouette, with a sword gripped in one hand that glinted in the light. His other hand still dripped from the taint of his victims blood. His stance appeared eerie and unwelcoming, like the shades that had once attacked them earlier. He said nothing while he pulled his sword forward and swept it down to finish Eradi.

"_Yami don't!"_

The sword stopped. It stopped inches away from his victims skull. The voice in his head repeated again _"You don't need to continue any further... we've won."_

The blade trembled in Yami's hand before he snapped and threw it to the side of him. He fell to his knees. "I can't fight anymore!"

Serenity ran immediately to his side and gripped him tightly. "You don't need to... we're here for you."

"But Yami, if you don't use your Duel Disk, you can't complete this Shadow Game!" Tristan countered. He felt uncertain. Without the Pharaoh's masterful gaming skills we'll never complete it."

Joey watched as his sister tended to his brother. He was still baffled as to why she had white wings, but I guess anything was possible in a video game world. "We'll just have to trust in each other, as long as we have that, we can do anything."

Serenity picked up the Pharaoh from his crouched position, while Tristan grabbed Yami's golden Duel Disk sword. Eradi on the other hand, tried to take advantage of the situation. He had shuffled backwards somewhat, slowly and at a bit at a time, until he was a good meter or two from the group. "There's no point going for the power of the Black Wing if this is the sort of lame powers it provides. I-I'm probably going to do something else..."

"...Yo. You really thought you could get away after what you've done man?"

Eradi looked up to see a man in a red coat looking down on him with his emerald eyes. It was Duke. Before Eradi had a chance, he was grabbed and held down until the others got help.

Before long he was arrested and taken into custody by a group of hooded mages. They wore a similar uniform to the same ones that had arrested Marik and Tea earlier. They walked in an orderly line and promptly picked snatched the criminal from Duke Delvin's hands.

"Eradi Rhynhard, you have been arrested on charges of endangering public lives with your magic. Twenty counts of kidnappings. Two murders. You shall be taken to Horus Watch whereby you will be judged and remain in custody."

"Horus Watch?" Tristan asked.

"It's the main prison where criminals of magic are held. It's on the west side of Pharaoh's Gate, on a small secluded island a little off the shore. Security there is tighter than a snake choking a dead man." Duke deduced. "I learned a lot of these things from the folks around. Though... I've been feeling a little weird lately."

"Weird?"

The raven haired man placed his hands on his hips "Let's put it this way. Ever since you folks have showed up, you've had this certain air about you. I'm not sure what it is, but if I let you go off on your own... I wouldn't feel right y'know? So I've decided I'm coming with you."

Serenity heard Duke's confession and moved over to his side "I-I also want to come along. With my big brother. I simply can't leave him!"

"But both of you lack Duel Disks! It could get pretty dangerous." Tristan warned.

"We know." Duke snappily replied "But when the wind calls for me to move on, I gotta follow. I may not have anything special to offer, but we'll be cheering you on!" He raised his thumb in the sleek, cool way he usually did.

They left the circus tent together whilst the Pharaoh lagged behind. Joey's Kuriboh friend appeared to support him but he gave nothing more than a fake, weak smile. He wondered how much longer he could go on like this. It felt like his body and mind were degrading and wasting away, and there was nothing he could do about it. For one moment in his life, Yami hadn't felt any darker than he did right now.

**Note: **

**Serenity takes the role of Aerie (BG2 SOA) here, but this time, she still has her wings! All the explanations will arrive in the following chapter. Do note, the story will continue to deviate quite a lot! Hope you enjoyed the puzzleshipping fanservice at the beginning of the chapter, I'll be mowing through quite a few more shippings as I go. Personally, I see Yami Yugi as a type of 'Father' figure to Yugi, since he has no visable father. Both of them need each other to keep themselves in check.  
**


	8. Ch8 – Death Penalty, Wisdom of Blue Eyes

**Pre-Note:**

**Sorry for the delay on this chapter! Work got in the way. This chapter is a bit exposition heavy, but I needed to get it done and out of the way.**

* * *

**Chapter 8 – Death Penalty, Wisdom of Blue Eyes  
**

* * *

"Tell me, why are we here again?" Tristan stood before an old, run down building of some sort. It had a large sign hanging over door with an image of a blue beetle. "This looks like a tavern. We're not old enough for booze!"

Duke held out his arms "You said you wanted to be taken to the place where the Shadow Guild are right? This is the place! The Scarab Arms Tavern."

Tristan watched as a surly couple walked out of the door. It seemed so out of place to him. "Why the heck would a thief guild pick a place like this? It's so crowded, it would be impossible to create a hideout here."

It was then Devlin lifted his finger "That's exactly why they'd be here. No one would have expect that the towns most silent organisation is in one of the loudest buildings of Pharaoh's Gate. I only know this much because I ran into Kaiba when he was on his way back. He was carrying a wounded girl on his back, said he had an obligation to fulfil."

Tristan and Duke Devlin were the first two to attempt to enter the imposing tavern. However, with a turn of a head Tristan had realised Joey still hung in place with a concerned look on his face. He looked sadly towards his younger sister Serenity who still clutched Yami by the arm, the latter of which had not yet got over the ordeal back at the carnival. Joey noticed his friends attention to the Pharaoh and moved his focus over to Taylor.

"Hey Trist'." Joey seemed serious for a change. "If you had the choice to end the life of a man who had put you and your friends through suffering... would you do it?"

"I... I don't think I could." Tristan stuttered with his reply.

"Exactly. This world is no game. People who die here actually die. If you kill a man here, you may as well have done it in real life. " Joey looked back on at Yami's shallow face "If I were in his position, I think I would have quit too. Doesn't help he has all those weird things going on in his head because of this Black Wing business. I'd like to believe that Marik's involvement and weird spells contributed to it though."

Joey had a point. What if it were to do with Marik's experiments? It seemed the more likely case. Either way, Tristan ushered the rest of the party into the Tavern as his desire to see Miho again remained strong like a burning flame.

They were greeted by an unsettling, cluttered atmosphere where they felt they didn't belong. The smell of alcohol lay heavy in the air. Grizzly faced men stat at tables leering at their entry, there were some sprawled out, completely intoxicated by the liqour. Yami's emotions seemed unchanged, his face was still saddened and darkened. Tristan stopped with creak as his foot pressed against a wonky wooden floorboard. "Okay, so how do we get access to the guild?"

Suddenly, he felt a foreign hand cover over his mouth. It was heavy, sweaty and bulky. "Shhhhhhh...!" The low voice of a man behind him caused him to quiet down in shock. Joey took a better look, it looked like one of Kaiba's bodyguards back at home. He was tall and bulky, but instead of a smart tuxedo he wore strange maroon garbs, like a man from the fast east. He finally removed his hand from Tristan and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him in a predetermined direction.

Rather than take action against a stranger pulling Tristan away somewhere, Joey simply followed. "If he's one of Kaiba's goons, he'll probably lead us to him."

Serenity continued to lead Yami through the dark building. The dim lighting made it appear like night time and the musty air wasn't too pleasing. The quiet whispering of little Yugi could be heard above the sinister bickering of the gawpers around him_"Pharaoh. Why are you behaving like this...?"_

Yami didn't return a reply.

"_It's like there's a deep hole in your heart."_

Yami's eyes brightened a little to the revelation.

"_I'm sure if we meet Kaiba, he can help with us."_

A flurry of air swept around Yami Yugi, causing Serenity to step back a little as the two egos swapped places. The Millennium puzzle glinted and the man's body language changed to a more positive one.

Joey noticed the goings on as he walked after Tristan and Kaiba's bodyguard and promptly returned a smile "Hey... our old pal Yugi is back!"

Yugi just pulled one arm behind his back "Y-yeah. I guess!" He sounded overly happy in his reply, but it sounded feigned. Joey was curious about what was actually happening between Yugi and his Pharaoh partner.

The group were quickly surrounded by a tight pathway. The structure of the building blended between adobe and wooden archways, various twists and turns became known to them. Down this route, not a single tavern regular seemed to venture down, far too drenched in booze to acquire the patience or curiosity to check these halls. Tristan and the man finally stopped at a large bookcase on the left of the corridor. He removed a book from the shelf that had a curious white cover and pulled it out causing the entire shelf to click like a switch. With a few creaks, the bookcase lowered as it was consumed by the ground and behind it revealed a secret pathway.

"Follow me this way," the bodyguard ushered.

The party walked through the gateway and before long the door shut behind them, leaving them at the mercy of the dim blue scarab shaped lights that shone down from the roof of the low tunnel. Before long, the light at the end of the tunnel shone.

It revealed a wide room, that resembled a bar similar to the front of the tavern, but it felt much more relaxed. Men and women wearing hoods on their backs sat in various odd places around the room. One man in the corner even began grinding his blade into the table before licking the flat surface of the blade with his tongue.

From an undetermined doorway from the other side of the room where the party stood, a man in white robes walked into view standing apart from the rest. It was Kaiba. He turned his face to greet the new crowd and gave blunt smile as if he expected their coming. "Welcome to my humble abode, adventurers."

"How is Miho?" Tristan demanded.

"Hold your fire. You'll get to see her soon enough. First we need to get some other matters out of the way."

Despite being in a different universe, Kaiba still had firm control over an organisation like he did with Kaiba Corp. Yugi noticed that Seto was pointing directly at him. "Black Wing, where is your other member?"

Seto had a keen eye to notice Tea was missing. Yugi had no choice but to confess. "She was arrested along with Marik Ishtar by some wizards for casting magic in the city grounds."

"Some wizards? Listen Yugi, that's the magic council of Horus Watch. She'll never get out of there so long as Marik Ishtar is there."

"Why not?"

Seto silenced his immediate reply and sighed. "If you follow me this way, I will take you to our priest. She is the one that has been healing Miho, but trust me, that's not all she's good for."

Yugi was curious and spoke aloud to his group members. "I wonder who that is?"

* * *

Tea found herself surrounded by a white transparent sphere. Through the glass like energy, she could see two coweled mages casting a spell; ensuring her ward keeps her in place. Directly adjacent to her stood Marik Ishtar. He too was in a spherical barrier like she was. However, his stance told a different tale, his arms were folded and he smirked, as if he was the guest of honour at a grand party.

A senior wizard approached, entrenched in gold trimmings on his robes to signify his authority. "Who are these two prisoners?"

One of the younger wizards spoke up "We no nothing about them besides their names. Tea Gardener and Marik Ishtar. They were responsible for the recent flux of magical energy near the Eradi Carnival Promenade."

The leading magican stroked his chin. "I see."

Tea reached out her hand, but it clashed against the magical prison she was confined in "You have to watch out for that man! He's dangerous!" She had hoped warning would be enough for the wizards to take notice of Marik's demonic nature.

The bloodlust filled villain looked her way and grinned before looking back at the head authority figure "I'm surrounded by insolent fools."

The main wizard grumbled in annoyance "This one is a handful. Why was he not gagged? Did he not kill several of you?"

One of the smaller wizards trembled "W-we dared not approach him. He only decided to come here willingly."

"Fine. Take them to the upper layers of Horus Watch. We must make absolutely sure that they are both watched heavily."

* * *

Yugi, Tristan, Duke, Joey and Serenity had followed Seto Kaiba into a room that did not match up with the building they were in earlier. It had white walls and a tall pointed roof belonging to a small chapel. Within the walls was a tabletop with Miho's sleeping body resting upon it. Next to her sat a pale skinned woman with equally white robes and ocean blue hair. She noted their coming.

"Seto?" She rasped. Her eyes looked towards them; they were like sapphires.

"This is Kisara." Seto revealed as the lady walked towards them. "She is one of the many priests within Pharaoh's Gate, but she serves the Guild of Shadows when we require aid, like healing your friend there. She's also fairly knowledgeable on the entire Black Wing ordeal Yugi. It was only because of her I knew."

Yugi was intrigued. He didn't recognise who she was but if she had helped Miho get better and Kaiba trusted her there must have been some pureness to it all. Before he knew it, his hands were gripped by Kisara's tender fingers. He blushed a little, but when he looked up to her, he noticed her eyes were shut and she was concentrating on something. Her eyes opened and she looked sternly back at the boy. "I feel a darkness in your heart." Her eyes were eerie and inhuman looking up close. They looked like they belonged to that of a wise dragoness. "Would you like me to tell you about the Black Wing and the Lord of Darkness?"

Yugi merely nodded. He was curious, and he thought that the listening Pharaoh would finally have some of his questions laid to rest.

"Alright then." Kisara smiled and removed her hands from Yugi. "Throughout our time of living on this earth as humans, we have learned both joy and suffering. Many desire a world without pain or losing the ones they loved. So humans began to pray and with their faith they summoned from the world a mighty being that brought them endless joy.

However, the people did not know a price came with this joy. While Horakhty gave us our sunlight, Zorc was born and gave us the darkness. For every amount of joy in the world must be traded with suffering in equivalent exchange. Thus the Great Disaster followed when Zorc unleashed his wrath unto the world with no hope of salvation, until the day they were finally put to the test by a lineage of Pharaoh and was sealed. Afterwards, that man founded the city of Pharaoh's Gate on the ruins of the main battlefield under the name of the king himself and he lead his people into creating where we live to this very day.

However that is not all. There was a legend spoken that Zorc while not able to be revived cursed the lineage of Pharaohs sometime down their generation. One day one would become a child of Zorc, otherwise known as the Lord of Darkness or the Black Wing. To ensure Zorc's victory, he also cursed several other bloodlines. Nobody knows who these people are, but two of them will be destined to unite and seize the the throne."

Yugi seemed worried. "So this power I have... is evil?"

"Not necessarily. Whether they would restore order to our country or destroy it was entirely in their hands. The Black Wings could pick paths of their own, but the powers of the dark destroyer will forever remain in their veins to do as they so please."

"Was that why Marik tortured us?"

Kisara looked at Yugi will concern. "Not many know the Black Wing is living and existing in this time. I was only told by the holy voices in this building. If evil men caught on you had the power of their nature within you, they would seek it out claiming that they deserve it. I feel a man has already ripped something from your heart clean... and the Black Wing within you demands it back. For without it, the spirit within you will eventually wither and die."

While Kisara seemed to be good at spouting words for long periods of time the last sentence she spoke from her passive words still scared Yugi to no end. "Yami could... die?"

Kisara nodded. "If you do not claim what this villan stole from you soon, he will yes. He will quickly succumb to the darkness of Zorc if you were not there to be his guiding light."

Yugi clutched the golden pyramid around his neck. "So as long as I have the Millennium Puzzle... he will survive."

Kisara didn't shake or nod her head "Only for so long. You must confront this enemy of yours immediately and claim it back."

Tristan had trouble gulping down all of the information "So you're saying that Marik did something to Yugi and Yami Yugi and you're saying that if we don't get to Horus Watch he'll die!?"

Kisara silently nodded. Seto Kaiba placed a hand on his chin "We've been gaining intelligence recently about Horus Watch. My men were planning to invade it to rescue a certain captive there. I guess you could come along with us on our raid."

It seemed all too convenient, but Yugi was willing to give up anything to save his partner. His hands trembled in fear. Since they were both interconnected, would it mean he would die as well? He tried desperately not to think about it. Whatever Marik had done to him, he had to pay.

"Regardless," Seto continued "I have to get to Horus Watch and save my brother as well. But I don't want to leave you alone Kisara."

The lady in the robes fell into his arms. "I don't want to leave you either. But you must do it for Mokuba."

"Yes. We shall depart tomorrow morning."

Joey stomped on the floor. "Hey! If Yugi really doesn't have a lot of time to play with, why not now!?"

Seto pulled from Kisara's embrace and looked at him angrily. "Look Wheeler. Going out at night is asking for a death sentence! Do you not know the basic principles?"

"Dangerous?"

"The silver jackals roam at night. Damn wizards are too cowardly to do anything about those. If you wonder around the town at night you're sure to be eaten alive by one, let alone have the smarts to stop them raiding your own home. They've been becoming more active lately. We wait until morning, no arguments. I am paying for your transport to Horus Watch, after all."

Joey wasn't sure what these silver jackals were, but he decided to keep further questions at bay to keep him from compromising their one chance to save Yugi Moto and the Pharaoh.

**Pre-Note:**

**The plot heavily deviates around here. In BG2 going to Spellhold cost the party 20,000 gold forcing them into various quests. Also, jackals instead of vampires! I was very, very tempted to go with vampires but felt they didn't fit well with the Egyptian-esque setting.**


	9. Ch9 - The Last Night

**Chapter 9 – The Last Night**

* * *

Now it was a matter of playing the waiting game. Kaiba had insisted for the group of duelists to stay at the Guild of Shadows for the night until morning when the assault on Horus Watch would begin. Tristan stayed and kept watch over Miho in Kisara's temple. The injured girl still lay on the table, like a sleeping beauty. The tears on her school uniform was still evident, but the open wounds had begun to close. The moon next to the window had begun to rise and the room was drenched in the white of pale moonlight.

He clutched her hand. His warmth felt the cold of her own. "Why won't you wake Miho?"

"She received a critical blow. It's miraculous how she has survived thus far," A calming feminine voice from behind him spoke. He turned to see Kisara standing above him as she observed his intimate attention to Miho. "What Marik Ishtar did was inexplicable."

"I guess I should be thankful that Kaiba did this for us. And you with your ability to heal people and all." Tristan moped.

"As long as I put my faith in the gods, anything is possible." She smiled a weak smile. "Recently, I've been hearing the gods call to me louder than usual lately. Do not tell Kaiba, but Gods may soon request my audience."

Tristan wasn't sure what she meant, but he assumed it was things the priests in this world spouted. He retained his focus back to Miho in a constant hope she would soon awaken.

* * *

Meanwhile, Joey, Tristan, Duke and Serenity were sat around a table bored out of their skulls. They had retreated back to the main room of the Guild of Shadows, under the nerving watch of several of Kaiba's men. Much like in the front of the Scarab Arms Tavern, they felt out of place, but this time the possible glass in the back would be replaced by a rusty silver dagger. Each of his members in the room must have at least killed on man or more; they had a certain glint that murderers had.

Either way, they didn't seem to keen on killing anything until money was placed in front of them. Their minds were focused on the raid on Horus Watch the following day, but the heightened activity around the building during the night was a cause of concern. Yugi Moto sat at a wooden table and fumbled with his gold puzzle, trying to figure out what caused it to activate with a red light recently as if it were a broken toy; but he couldn't find anything different on it. He closed his eyes and began to focus, slipping his mind inside the relic so he could communicate with the Pharaoh.

He stood before his mirror image in his soul room before long, the ancient relics inscribed on the walls made it feel like the home to an Egyptian King.

Just as Yugi was about to speak, the seated Yami spoke first "It's just like a fantasy, but all of this feels real. I feel like I'm dreaming."

Yugi envoked some confidence into his reply "It's a nightmare, but we'll soon wake up from it. We just have to keep working together Pharaoh!"

"...You're right. But, it's not as simple as it were before partner. If it wern't for you being here... I think the spirit of Zorc would have ripped me to pieces. Do you not feel the demon that sleeps in both of us?"

Yugi nodded. But he didn't want to feel scared. It was just a game. Defeating Marik would rid them of the dark thoughts that beckoned to them in both spirit and mind. "As long as we're both there for each other, we won't fall in battle like last time."

"...The energy that caused the Dark Magician to evolve was through that same very power. The Puzzle is a manifestation of both of our souls in physical form. We must keep the creature that prowls within it at bay. It should not find our Soul Rooms so long as we don't taunt to it."

"Exactly." Yugi concurred.

Yami smiled for a change. It was like a heavy burden on his shoulders had been lifted. "Thank you Yugi. Without you I don't think I could have made it this far."

Yugi blushed a little. "It's nothing! I've got to go back now. Remember, negativity feeds the devil! Literally!" With that he faded out of existence and was back in the Guild of Shadows. Time had passed a little around him, he noticed the activity of the thieves had begun to increase and some were preparing for sleep.

He heard a voice beside him. Joey was still mesmerized by Serenity's white wings. "What's with those?"

Duke winked across the table. "She's a Fae. A rare type of winged human. Eradi at the carnival obsessed over her as some kind of freak of nature and wanted her put up for display. Didn't seem it was enough for him though."

Joey beat the table with his fist. "That bastard." He looked at Serenity with brotherly love.

As his interest in finding the answer waned, he noticed Kaiba pass him by with two thieves either side of his person. They seemed to guard him without question. It was then the brunette boss turned his face to the group. "Newcomers. Lucky for you the silver jackals have died down on their advance on the Guild of Shadows. We should make it through tonight without needing to defend to vigorously. I suggest you get some sleep while you can."

The party had removed their armour and went to sleep that night soundly. They were given some empty bunkbeds given to them by the passing of several assassins who had died the previous night. Needless to say it kept Joey wide awake. Rather than sleep, Duke continued to pester him with scary stories from the opposite bunk. "The man's vision began to blur as the blank faced man's stared into his own!"

"Nyeh! Cut it out! At this rate I'm not gonna get any sleep."

Duke was led like Cleopatra on his bed. He shrugged "Well dude, you did say you were completely desensitized to kids ghost stories. Your funeral."

Joey grumbled as he tried to calm himself down and rolled upright, focusing his eyes on the bunk above him. "Y'know, tomorrow is going to be a big deal."

"Joey, it might be best if you leave Serenity with me. If we came with you, it could put your sister in danger."

Joey nodded. "Yeah, now that you mention it, I wouldn't want her to be dragged into this. I feel kind of worried for Yugi..."

An eyelid opened on the bunk above. Yugi awoke suddenly and was listening in to the conversation.

Duke didn't seem convinced. "Why is that? Kisara told you everything he needed to know about his power right?"

"That's what bothers me. Could Zorc be trying to revive himself from within both poor Yugi and the Pharaoh? When we first were freed a while ago from Marik's dungeon, Yami seemed almost dead without Yugi and his Puzzle. He was witheringly like a flower. Even with it back, he still seems to be rotting away; just much more slower than before." Joey clutched his pillow "I think if we don't act soon... he could die."

"I know. But you guys will make it for sure!" Duke winked.

"Well we better get some shuteye or we'll be spending our morning sleeping instead!"

Joey and Duke eventually quietened, but Yugi remained awake for a bit, pondering on his impending doom. For some reason, he wasn't scared yet like the Pharaoh had been. Yami was a confident person, if anything, Yugi should have been the one scared, but wasn't. He figured it was because Yami was no more than a spirit trapped in the Puzzle and was left vulnerable to the foreign darkness that accumulated inside it. He closed his eyes.

Immediately, he saw blood. Blood of crimson, splattered beneath his feet. Black silhouettes that represented bodies lay on the floor. There were five of them. Across the way, he saw a huge black shadow lumber. It noted his attention and went to add him to the corpses on the floor.

Stop. Stop. Stop.

"STOP!" Yugi awoke with his hand hanging in the air, as if he were halting the roof in his path. It looked silly, but he felt fear once again. The exact fear that he had been engulfed with when he was attacked in the Millennium Puzzle returned.

It didn't seem he had woken anyone up through his night trauma, but it was the least of his concerns.

_"How much longer is this going to go on?"_

* * *

Time had passed, and the party had gathered on a large boat by an abandoned dock to the west of the city. Tristan, Joey and Yugi followed Seto Kaiba onto the ship to meet with several other men. Some faces were familiar, resembling members back at the guild, but they weren't under suspicious hoods any more. Kaiba was in a white longcoat that bared resemblance to the one he wore in the real world, complete with spiked pauldrons. "We've had to discard our uniform so we don't garner suspicion when we get on the island."

Yugi looked down upon his blue jacket. "Is that why we don't have our armour?"

"You'll have to make do without it for now. But we've hidden your Duel Disks on the ship when the time is right. They'll be hidden in bags. We'll need to pretend we're travelling bards that have come to sea Tea. Then we get her out and my brother."

At least Yugi no longer had the gold armour chafing his collar. Tristan was saddened he couldn't wear his cape though. Joey on the other hand wasn't fully paying attention to Kaiba's orders; instead looking down from the side of the ship at his winged sister. Next to her was Duke Devlin. "We'll see you soon! Be sure to come back for the Duke!"

Serenity also gave her input "Big brother, whatever you do, make sure you come back!"

Joey raised a thumb "You can count on it Serenity!"

"We'll be at the Scarab Arms till things blow over." Duke added. "I'll keep an eye on this one, just do what bro's do best."

With that the boat began to slowly pull away. In the air something small and light flew towards him at the last moment, like a single blossom in the wind. He reached out and grabbed it with his hand and inspected it. A single white feather from one of Serenity's wings.

* * *

Tension began to rise. Horus Watch was just on the horizon, visable from the dock at Pharaoh's Gate. Ocean water splashed against the boat, knocking it from side to side. Yugi watched mindlessly at the golden tower in the distance, with his chin on the railing and his arms hung over. He felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"Hey, this reminds me of the time when we first boarded the rig to Pegasus's island." Joey tried to break the quiet atmosphere by reminiscing on past events. "It was a rough journey, but looking back at it, I would have never saved Serenity if it wasn't for what you did for me Yug'"

Yugi looked back and smiled "Hey that's no problem." Joey seemed to be on the right track. Keeping his mind off of the impending island ahead of them would prevent him getting cold feet. He turned his attention away from the sea and looked for Tristan. He too, was above deck. His face seemed to be more at peace ever since he had seen Miho under Kisara's care. For some reason, thinking on this made him think of Tea, and how much he missed her. Though there was something inside him that screamed out for her more.

Yami.

**Note:**

**The scary story Duke was telling to Joey was a reference to Slender.**


	10. Ch10 - Stolen Heart

**Pre-Note:**

**Of all the Chapters this was one of my favourite to write so far, Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

**Chapter 10 – Stolen Heart  
**

* * *

The island surrounding the tower of Horus Watch was small and unimpressive. It had no buildings, just grass, dirt, and the odd palmtree hanging over a rocky ledge. The tower itself was far more impressive, a beautiful solid gold structure; the tip decorated in the image of a beautiful flying avian holding a silver mirror between its spread wings.

It felt kind of odd for Yugi, Tristan and Joey to carry their Duel Disks in large black satchels on their back, but it was something they would have to get used to. They marched alongside Seto Kaiba, who lead them up the track to the entrance of the imposing building. "Remember," the Kaiba Corp ego said "This is a prison, and the men inside aren't to be messed with. One wrong move and we'll end up like the people we're trying to save."

Within moments they were at the gaping doors of the prison. Its imposing gateway was the only way inside. Kaiba glanced at the open doorway confused. There were two empty boxes either side of the door. "Strange... there's supposed to be guards here. Perhaps my men already went ahead."

Regardless, they ventured through the open doors to be greeted by a large spiraling hall. Stairs went upwards to countless floors above. The front room was dressed in a royal red carpet, which seemed jarring to the to-be prisoners who walked onto it. Inside, not a soul was to be seen. It was almost eerie. Yugi glanced around. His further movements were halted by words jamming his mind from the Pharaoh. _"Hey Yugi. It would be wise for us to swap places here. If you get in a tight spot, we won't be able to switch without the wizards picking up the magic powers this Puzzle has."_

"Okay. Be careful Yami," Yugi nodded and immediately relinquished his control and gave his body to the Pharaoh. The golden tri-spiked duelist in blue whipped off his regal blue school jacket and flung it around his neck like a cape. "Been wanting to do that for a long time. I nearly forgot how annoying it was to wear armour."

Kaiba decided not to comment and instead let out a classic grumble. "Well from this point on, just me and Yugi will be able to go any further."

"Why is that!?" Joey cried in detest.

"Because Wheeler, we need some people keeping the wizards on the ground level busy if those withered old geezers decide to show up."

Both Tristan and Joey were worried for Yami, but he raised his thumb at them in an attempt to lift their spirits. "Don't worry you guys, I'll be back with Tea before you know it!"

With that the Pharaoh and the Kaiba Corp boss headed up the stairway alone. The air was awkwardly silent; Kaiba wasn't exactly the sociable type and striking up a conversation was probably a one way ticket back to the mainland of the city. With a last haul, they both reached the top of the first set of stairs to be greeted almost immediately by a man in waiting. He wore a heavy black cowl that completely hid his face from visable view and golden trimmings around the sleeves and collar.

"This is the Cardinal?" Yami asked "Why is he on his own? Where are the guards?"

"Yes I am that." The wizard quickly snapped. His voice almost sounded familiar. "The guards... or other wizards to be correct, are busy conducting an experiment on the upper floors."

Yami raised an eyebrow in suspicion. He was sure the wizards would jump out from somewhere at any minute but as time went on, it didn't happen. A blank, grey iris stared out of the cowl as if it looked into his very soul. "You've come on a tour have you?"

"...Yes." Seto Kaiba firmly interrupted.

"Ho ho... so very keen. Since no-one else is free at the moment I will grant you the honours. Follow me up a few floors."

The pair followed him up yet more stairs, until they reached a tunnel of holding cells. The dark silver room gave an unsettling deja vu to the Pharaoh, reminding him of the time he was being held in Marik's dungeon. The Cardinal showed them the criminals in each of the cells, all of which were mad or crazy in each individual way. One had turned a dog inside out with forbidden spell cards he created himself, another had touched the planes of alternate dimensions and as a result, was driven mad by the voices in her head. The screams and cries of mad denizens to be freed was almost horrifying. Yami was partially glad that Tristan and Joey had stayed where they were. Kaiba seemed unaffected by the suffering people around him though, and continued to march along impatiently.

"...And finally the last captor we have on this floor is held in this very room." The Cardinal spoke softly. For some reason, Kaiba stood aside and allowed Yami to go through the door first. The first difference was that this room was wide and open and in the center was a large green fiberglass prison. The main prison had tubes erupting from its top that connected to smaller glass containers around the room. Each one contained a dead wizard.

The centerpiece of the display, was a brunette girl inside the main glass prison. Yami gritted his teeth and clenched his fist tightly when he realised who it was. "TEA!"

He ran towards it at great speed. Never before had he missed her so, but on approach, he realised that she was not fully aware of his presence. Her eyes seemed blank and empty, as if something had been sucked out of her being.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER CARDINAL!?" Yami growled looking back at the cloaked man.

"Oh... did I say I was a Cardinal?" The wizard pulled down his hood revealing he was no Cardinal wizard at all. His hair was spiked and platinum, his skin was tanned and his eyes were blank.

"Marik!?" Despite the confusion in the situation, Yami Yugi didn't care. He wanted him dead for what he had done to Miho, the Wizards at Horus Watch and now Tea.

Kaiba seemed to stand still next to Ishtar and then slowly walked forwards.

"Why aren't you attacking him? He's our enemy!" Yami questioned.

"Calm down Yugi..." Kaiba softly worded as he walked past Yugi to look past Tea. His dialect seemed unusually calm for such a situation. It was then, Yami was grabbed from behind and before he knew it, Kaiba had a knife around his neck, ready to slit his throat.

"-!" Yami wasn't even able to speak.

"I'm sorry Yugi, but I have to do this for Mokuba." Kaiba softly worded into his ear.

"Y-you traitor!" Yami scolded.

As he stared at the blade, Marik's frightening face got closer and closer. "My experiment now works like a treat. All I need is one more heart... and I finally know how to do that thanks to these idiots here."

Marik's hand glowed a dark orange and it melted into Yami's stomach, causing him to choke in pain. He could feel the world spinning around him and he began to black out.

His eyes flickered open and he could hear Marik speaking to him. "I have now stolen the hearts of both Black Wings, and I can now use the powers how I desire!" His voice began to fade out as Yami could feel his body slowly blacking out again. His body felt hollow and empty. "Yugi Moto... where are you?"

No answer.

He could feel no spirit calling out to him. He reawoke to a warm hand. His eyes seemed to reopen back in the main hall, where Tea looked over him. He sat up looking confused and anemic, but was greeted with a huge choking hug. "Yugi! You're okay!" She smiled.

Yami smiled weakly, and noticed his two other friends around him. "Hey Joey, Tristan. What's up?"

"What's up?" Joey responded with his hands on his hips. "Something major, at least according to Tea."

Tea nodded in response. "Marik and Bakura stole something from both of us. I think... he ripped out a part of our hearts..."

No wonder Yami had felt so weak. Tea offered a hand to get him up and he grabbed on a stood up, almost immediately falling into her over his weakness. When he was finally able to stand on his own, he continued. "Kaiba betrayed me."

"Yeah we know. We're still trying to avoid Kaiba's goons on this island. Seems he was only in on this whole scheme for himself, the cheating bastard." Joey felt let down.

Yami was still curious for answers as he made his way past Joey and headed for the doorway outside."But do tell, how did Bakura get into this story?"

"Apparently in this world he leads the band of Silver Jackals. They're like them werewolves from the old monster stories. He's been working in partnership with Marik this whole time." Joey modestly replied.

"And what of the thieves in the Guild of Shadows?"

"Kaiba duped us into a trap from the very beginning. He used Tea's capture to his advantage just to save his brother."

"Perhaps he had no choice." Yami grumbled. "Either way, he's being block headed as usual." He took another step but stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. His faltering was prevented by Tristan's arm, who got him back up. "Are you sure you're okay bro?"

Yami's skin was unusually pale and his face was still caked in sweat. His body felt empty. "I-I'm fine. But I think Yugi is... gone." No matter how hard he tried he could no longer communicate with him inside the puzzle. It was like an empty shell, and the invisible hole in his heart began to dig an ever deeper wound.

Tea held her face on her hands "This is bad news." She could feel the physical and mental pain he showed underneath his body, despite him not showing it on the surface. It was then, she clutched his cold fingers in her hands.

They slowly walked out of the building onto the coast into the dusk of night. Much time seemed to have passed since Yami's capture. Fortunately there was one tiny boat still docked on the island. They decided to board it and make their way back to Pharaoh's Gate and confront Kaiba and his Guild of Shadows, hopefully leading them to Marik Ishtar. Yami walked slowly towards the boat and stepped into it.

Yami sat weakly in the boat as Joey and Tristan worked on the steering. Tea kept her hazel eyes on the Pharaoh at all times, looking at him in worry. Her hands tightened nervously. "Yami, I need to confess to something."

"W-what is it?" Yami Yugi stammered.

"...I think I was the second Black Wing all along."

"You... what?" His eyes widened.

"I wondered why Marik did what he did. Him cutting Miho and showing me. He wanted to envoke my anger, the anger of the Black Wing, and bring out something. To see if I was truly that..." Tea looked at her hands "Ever since I awoke in this world, I've felt different. It's only now that I see this happen to you, and Marik steals a part of my own heart I'm finally beginning to understand how you feel." Tears began to form at her eyes and she crumpled her skirt. "I-I had no idea you felt this way! And with Yugi gone you must feel a million times worse!" She brought her arms around Yami Yugi unexpectedly and began to shed tears. "I don't want to lose you Yami!"

"H-hey," he replied weakly. "I'm not alone without Yugi. I have all my friends right here... and you of course."

Tea just continued to cry.

Yami gave her an awkward look "Uhh, Tea, you were supposed to be comforting me I think. But I guess that's my job now huh?"

Tea pulled herself away and smiled, wiping away the tears. "Alright. I'll be strong for you."

"Attagirl." Yami smiled.

Silence lulled over the ocean besides the light clash of the waves. It was then Joey had an idea spark in his brain and she reached for her deck of cards. Tristan seemed unamused "Stop being lazy and pick up the oar man."

"No, because I just had an epic idea!" Joey grinned, drawing his greatsword from his black bag. He placed the card down on the duel disk portion of it, and before the boat flew a humongous black dragon of the night. "I'm not sure why I didn't think of it before, but my Red-Eye Black Dragon can pull the boat for us!"

Tristan seemed relieved his friend made a smart decision for a change. He chose to do the same, and withdrew his mace duel disk to plant a monster card on it. "Go! Command Angel!"

A female angel wearing a militaristic uniform fluttered in front of the boat before Taylor. Luck seemed to be on his side when he found some loose old rope and tossed it towards his Duel Monster. The rope was long enough to cut some spare, so Joey used the remaining amount to tie it to the tail of his Red Eyes. Both Duel Monsters began to pull at increadible speeds, and passive oar boat seemed to transform into a speed boat within seconds. The curdling velocity pinned Joey, Tristan, Tea and Yami onto the floor, the former of which began getting sea sick. "Oh gee guys, I don't think I was prepared for all of this!" Joey's poor eyes began to spin as the tiny ship only got faster.

Suddenly, the boat stopped, causing the party to nearly tumble into each other as it broke to a halt. Joey looked up, and saw the Red Eyes and Commander Angel both giving a moan. They were already at the dock. But what Tristan noticed, and what Joey hadn't was uncanny. Someone had been watching them from the dock in the night.

It had the head of a wolf and it's fur was a shiny silver in the white of moonlight. It was bipedal, stood on two legs. And it growled at them as if it were laughing.

It wasn't human.


	11. Ch11 - The Slayer, Black Heart

**Pre-Note:**

**I updated the story with a temporary cover page, so it doesn't show my avatar anymore. It's a work in progress so it looks lacking a the moment.**

* * *

**Chapter 11 – The Slayer / Black Heart**

* * *

The silver werewolf leapt at them first from the top of the dock, aiming for the boat.

"What is that? A Silver Jackal?" Joey questioned. He didn't have much time to ponder, but he commanded his friends towards his Red-Eyes Black Dragon. "Quick, get on my dragon so we can get off of this boat to safety!"

There wasn't much time to react. Joey grabbed the tail of his dragon and Tristan grabbed onto him, followed by Tea; who clutched both Tristan and Yami like a long paper chain. The boat shook and crumbled under the claws of the beast as it landed on it and the boat immediately gave way causing the wolf man to fall into the water, splashing and whining like a puppy. While the party managed to land safely on the hard ground of the dock, Tristan's Commander Angel finished off the helpless monster out of view. They heard the curdling sounds of a dog being silenced by death, before the Angel flew back into sight and promptly vanished. It came to a surprise to Joey when the Red-Eyes Black Dragon also vanished. "Hey! I guess these guys used up all their power trying to help us."

Yami nodded weakly. His body was fatigued, he had barely the strength to walk but he had to keep going. "We... we must return to the Guild of Shadows and find out where Marik and Bakura went."

"Don't be stupid!" Tristan scolded "We couldn't possibly face all those assassins in your condition! We'll be dead meat!"

"What about Kisara at the temple? There were no thieves there..." Yami continued, trying to strive for solutions in order to rescue his and Tea's hearts from Marik.

"That's a great idea!" Tristan fist pumped the air.

As they walked through the town at night, they noticed it was exceptionally quiet. "Weren't there supposed to be a lot more of those werewolf dudes?" Tristan asked curiously.

"There was..." Joey felt a little uncomfortable as he felt something in his coat. Releasing it caused Kuri the Kuriboh to fly out. It seemed a little scared and nervous. "What's wrong with you?"

Tea and Yami shivered as they felt similar sensations through their veins. "D-did you feel that?" Yami questioned, still shaky from lacking Yugi and a part of his heart. Tea simply nodded. It was like synchronicity, but as Black Wings they could both feel the hanging loom of danger in the air more than most; they felt this was what the Kuriboh was worried so much about.

Tea pointed in a determined direction "We need to go that way!"

Joey's pupils shrunk. "Isn't that where Kisara's church is anyway? Perhaps she's in trouble-"

A sudden scream concerned his fears causing him to jolt in the sounds direction. "Hey man, wait up!" Tristan ran quickly after him, but Tea and Yami were unable to catch up, since they had both been weakened.

They trudged in the direction past several houses, until the white light of two large doors invited them in. It was the both holy and harrowing at the same time. As Yami walked closer, the light screamed at him to turn back. Each step forward was like stepping through thick water drowned in dark matter. His curiosity compelled him. His desire to reunite with Yugi burned strong. It was then he felt a tight squeeze of his hand and slid an eye towards Tea, who too was looking forwards. It was then he realised once more that he wasn't alone.

Entering through the white gateway of light, they found themselves in the hall of the chapel. It was eerily quiet, but the candle light remained on.

In the hallway stood a man waiting expectantly for them. He wore pale white trousers and jacket, with a striped blue shirt underneath. His hair was long and spiked, with two 'side spines' at the top pointing in opposite directions. His eyes were wide and huge looking; complete with a sadistic grin. Around his neck he wore a gold Millennium Item comprising of a Wdjat on a flat triangle panel, surrounded by a ring and several gold teeth hanging from it; a little like a valuable dream catcher. He smiled if to expect their coming. Joey and Tristan could not be heard anywhere nearby.

The silence that broke the room was nearly horrifying. Yami decided he would be the first to break the it. "What is the meaning of this Ryou Bakura?"

The white haired man snickered. "Why don't you take a look around?"

It didn't take much for Yami and Tea to search around the small chapel only to see Tristan and Joey unconscious on the floor. Behind Bakura was a long mess of hair as Kisara was also out.

Tea gasped. "This is terrible."

Yami's eyes filled with rage. "What have you done to my friends!?" He tried to run forward to grab Bakura by the collar, but he tumbled quickly due to his weakness of heart.

The savage man in front of them laughed. "Hahaha! That's right! Kneel to your new God like the dogs you are! With the heart of the Black Wing, I can use these powers as I please!" A vortex of black feathers blew magically from a tornado from the front of Ryou, forcing Tea down to the ground as well and kept the pair pinned down. He continued to laugh. "That's right! Kneel before your Master Pharaoh! I am the one who will now rule Pharaoh's Gate, along with my Silver Jackals!"

"I knew it," Yami scorned and he gripped the floor trying to push himself forward through the wind cyclone. His body faltered. The black energy that pushed him down caused his mind to slip a little, but just as Bakura was about to make his move towards the protagonists, his ankle became caught in something; causing the feather tornado to cease spinning. "What is this treachery?"

It was then the secret passageway of the chapel burst open, and out appeared Kaiba in his assassins uniform with two of his men. "KISARA!"

The brunette grit his teeth. "You promised you wouldn't touch anyone from the chapel or the guild if you got what you want, mongrel!"

Bakura noted that it was Kisara herself that had grabbed his leg. He kicked her hand off like a dog and replied "I never said I wouldn't touch you or your miserable guild during our mission. I never said anything about after." He grinned at Kaiba before kneeling down to a helpless Kisara and grabbed her by the hair "And with the heart of the Pharaoh I can do as I please!" He placed his shoe in her innocent looking face to end her misery.

"YOU BASTARD!" Kaiba screamed as he advanced from the the left hand side. Bakura stood up and swept out an arm and a silver werewolf jumped through the window and attacked the Kaiba Corp president. One of Kaiba's assassins stood up for him, but they were quickly fodder for the furry fiend. Kaiba decided to do things his way and whipped out a blade and sunk it into the bipedal wolf's open palm as it tried to grab him by the face. Kaiba connected his empty hand to his dagger wielding one, and pushed more force in the blade, to overwhelm the strength of the monster, forcing it back and causing it to howl in pain from it's bloody claws. He then swept the dagger to the side of him and let the fresh blood drip off of its blade.

"Oh Kaiba," Bakura grinned. "You try too hard."

Three more werewolves jumped through the window and took the place of the injured one, occupying the thief. "Oh bring it on."

As Yami watched the carnage unfold he began to feel more and more disgust over what Bakura had done. He had abused Kaiba's trust, put his friends in mortal turmoil and was on the verge of losing the shadow game right here and now. Knowing that Yugi's lost soul was only meters away from him, the dark thoughts within his mind began to beckon louder and louder.

He couldn't lose a game.

There was no way.

It wasn't possible.

"I can't let it happen. I can't lose."

As his mind began to fade away, he heard a spirit within the Millennium Puzzle speak to him. Rather than give him false hope, it's dark cryptic words filled him with fear. _"Pathetic. You could crush those in front of you without a second thought, yet you do not."_

Whatever the voice was, it didn't sound like Yugi at all. It sounded like a demon of the underworld, the same that walked inside his Millennium Puzzle.

"W-who are you...?" Yami questioned weakly.

"_I am the essence of the Black Wing left behind. The murderous instinct of shadow that remains behind."_ The voice sternly answered.

"But Marik and Bakura-"

"_It does not change your fate. Your heart may be gone but you are still the destined Lord of Darkness. I cannot let a fool like you die to such trivialities."_ The demonic voice began to fade into nothing as the world around Yami turned black.

Tea immediately noticed that her partner in front of her had lost consciousness as he went limp on the floor. She got to her feet and rushed to his side. "Yami!"

He awoke suddenly. His eyes were wild, slitted and yellow rather than a calm amethyst. "Tea... get back!"

The Millennium Puzzle burst with and amalgamation red and black light. Bakura pulled his hand back at the vast light as he could hear screaming. "Just what is this?"

The distraction was so great that even the werewolves and Kaiba had halted in their tracks. Kaiba watched observantly, but it was clear the Jackals didn't want to hang around as they began whining like scared dogs. The red and black like exploded into fire, and Tea feared the worst when Yami vanished in the fire. However ,besides Kaiba, Bakura seemed somewhat disturbed. But he swallowed whatever minor fears lay in his soul aside.

He clicked his finger and once again there was a turbine of wind and black feathers, trying to fan out the fiery light. Instead, is seemed to make the power burn brighter. Tea was hurtled backwards into a wall hitting the back of her neck, nearly winding her out of consciousness. Instead of keeping focus on trivialities, Kaiba roundhouse kicked one of the whimpering dogs while it was distracted, and back stabbed the other. When the last dog realised what was happening it decided to strike, but Kaiba was too quick. He jumped and landed on the top of its back knocking the wolfman to the ground before it had the chance and it quickly found itself on the lino tiling. For a short moment Kaiba allowed himself to catch his breath without the fear of monsters clawing at his neck. As he stood there in a defensive pose his eyes could finally catch in line with the action.

Bakura was still solemnly holding his focus on Yami engulfed in the flames of the cursed puzzle, but something made him cease in his tracks. A lumbering shadow of something else winced through the fire. For once, the wielder of the Millennium ring seemed oddly terrified. "That's not what I think it is!?"

The red light finally twisted and exploded, completely wrecking the inside of the chapel and sundering it with debris. Bakura was hurtled backwards, and for a brief second he swore he saw something long like a tree trunk pull out of it. The candles had blown out, making the room appear dark.

No chance to react. Before he could see anything, Ryou felt himself become pressed against the wall. He he began to choke as his neck was being choked by black blades. He couldn't see the perpetrator under all the clouds of dust, but he could see a set of yellow eyes staring back at him from some distance away.

Tea slowly opened her eyes. "Yami?" she cried out weakly "Are you alright?"

The room was full of splinters from destroyed book cases and seating. Candelabras had been tipped over. Her eyes flashed as they caught the light of a shiny gold object not too far away from her. She crawled her weak body over towards it, but as she got closer she could hear the growl of what sounded like a werewolf. Perhaps one of the Jackals had woken up?

That wasn't it. It sounded different. It was really close by. Tea finally reached out and tried to scoop up the fallen puzzle in her hands, but as she touched it, she could feel her mind being burned. Shaking off the sensation, her eyes then lay on a long tail of brown and red colouration. The end had freakish black spines, as if it belonged to a demon. Her Pharaoh was no where to be seen.

"This has to be some kind of dream." She spoke aloud as she followed the tail to the giant, lumbering body it belonged to. It followed a pattern of black spines on its back.

Bakura began to choke under the stress that was being put on his body "The divine avatar of the Lord of Darkness! Great mother of Osiris Pharaoh, what have you become!?"

The beast said nothing.

Joey and Tristan slowly began to awaken from the pain they had been put through. Kaiba kicked himself up out of the rubble and brushed himself off as if his appearance meant more to him than being held down by enemies. He saw Bakura being held up against the wall by the demon that had emerged from the fire. "That's not good."

Rather than let it concern him, he first put his attention to Kisara, who was still on the floor. He rushed to her side to make sure she was alright.

Joey got himself on his feet. "Yo, that really hurt," he complained while rubbing his head. "Bakura hit me good."

"Too right," Tristan snappily agreed. "Hey, uh, where did that come from?" The pointy-haired male directed his finger at the demon.

Somehow, Kaiba gave an ounce of his attention at the boys despite the fact he still didn't care less for them. "It's the Daevic Avatar of the Lord of Darkness, the Slayer. I think Yami became _that _by letting that asshole Bakura get the better of him."

Tea took a step backwards as she clutched the Millennium Puzzle in her hands. "T-that's Yami!?"

**Notes:**

**First of all the chapter sort of mirrors when Bhodi encountered the Protagonist and his/her allies in Baldurs Gate 2. Instead of werewolves however, her cohorts were vampires instead of jackal-looking rest is deviation.  
**

**Also, Kaiba was a lot of fun to write in this particular chapter.  
**


	12. Ch12 - Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon

**Pre-Note:**

**Some people are wondering why I'm updating so often. I had a bad habit in the past for not finishing my stories so I set myself a task of writing one chapter a day until it's completed. Speaking of which, I don't think there's that many chapters left to go, it won't be a story that goes on for too long I assure you.**

* * *

**Chapter 12 – Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon**

* * *

Bakura sneered as he used the Millennium Ring to blind Slayer Yami. The black talons finally released, allowing Ryou to break free and drop to the ground gasping for air as he had nearly been strangled to death. From this angle he able to catch a glimpse of the Slayer. Its face was a cross between a hairless dog, dragon and demon. Yellow shining eyes pierced the darkness as it searched for its escaped victim. It had black talons and spines hanging over its face and body.

Joey began to shake in his trainers. "Just what the hell is that!?" he asked comically. He didn't take it seriously at first because he still thought it was all part of some crazy dream he was having when Bakura and his wolves floored him.

"I don't know," Tristan replied withdrawing his mace duel disk. "But it looks like our enemy and we have to fight it."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. It was clear to him these two morons were so wrapped up in their own business, they hadn't listened the first time. Joey too withdraw his greatsword and a spell card, but they were both interrupted by Tea. She stood in their way, with her arms spread out, preventing them from going any further.

"What's the big hold up Tea?" Joey asked. He could see the drained emotion from her face.

Another crash. The Slayer had moved, crushing its arm in the wall trying to capture the white haired man. He was unusually agile because of his abilities as a Silver Jackal. "This is getting quite annoying. Why can I not too become The Slayer!?"

Rather than ponder it, Bakura allowed his Millennium Ring to move on its own as it began to fire a concentrated laser at Slayer Yami, but it was futile. Despite being larger than him, he was much faster, crushing the beam in its palm. Ryou scorned.

The fight kept changing places in the small chapel. As Kisara soon awoke, Kaiba got her to her feet as fast as possible and pulled her out of the way, just as the Slayer's claw crushed through a foundation of the building. Kisara's face looked distraught. "It is as I feared. The true Black Wings cannot survive if their hearts are removed..."

"There's no hope for him now Kisara, stop getting involved with those freaks and come with me to safety." Kaiba showed his hand towards the door that was available to them.

Kisara shook her head.

Kaiba seemed irritated. "What's wrong!? We need to go right now! What could you possibly do here? This place could collapse any second."

"I can't leave him alone like this." Kisara pushed herself from Kaiba's grasp and moved closer to Tea. From the moon light shining through the window, it made the priestess appear benevolent and graceful. "Tea... the second Black Wing... do you not feel it?"

Tea's eyes drew to the blue haired woman. She saw her strange sapphire eyes lock onto the item Tea held in hand.

"He is crying Tea. He is crying. He is crying because inside, he is alone."

Joey cocked his head. "Hey wait, why do you have that Puzzle Tea? Did Yami go off some-"

Tea could have cried, but instead she just shook her head silently and turned towards Slayer Yami. It was like the female character in those old styled monster movies. "Yami... I know it's you."

Bakura had been hit to the floor stunned and the Slayer was prevented from finishing him off as it caught eye of the small girl standing below him. It stared her down in the face but she tried not to be afraid. Instead, she lifted the golden upturned pyramid in her hands. "Here... I have your Puzzle." She smiled and spoke with an underlying sense of nervousness in her words. "Y-you don't go anywhere without it."

Tea hoped it would calm the Slayer down and surface Yami's conscience. Instead, she was faced by a frightening roar.

Kisara began moving closer to Tea and Yami as she heard a calling speak out to her. Kaiba gripped her hand from behind, preventing her from getting closer. "Kisara, why are you doing this to me."

"I... I suppose the time is now to tell you Kaiba. But if you know, you must still let me go, for the gods will be angry with me."

"J-just what are you saying?" Kaiba replied. His advance was ceased when she advanced to him first, kissing him on the cheek. He hugged her lovingly and she hugged back. She moved over to his ear and quietly whispered "You must combine my power with the power of your two cards you possess."

Kaiba still didn't know what she meant as she pulled away from his embrace. "What are you saying?"

"Kaiba. Tea will die if I don't do something. This is goodbye."

He reached out his hand as he watched the church girl run in front of Tea. "Kisara NO!"

"Tea." Kisara worded.

"Y-yes?" Tea remained rather nervous as Yami had become more and more restless.

"The Lord of Darkness will forever remain strong in the shadow of night. Only with my special power, can we truly weaken it. Perhaps then, we can help your Pharaoh. The next action your friend takes will be because of my spell. Do not think less of him."

Tea nodded in response, allowing Kisara to smile once more. "That face puts me at ease." She placed her hands on her heart and looked towards Slayer Yami. A buffet of wind circled around the girl as she began to chant.

"_Lord of Darkness,_

_That who bringeth light,_

_That who also taketh away,_

_hear my plight._

_Sunder my soul,_

_So that I may smite,_

_So I may save thee,_

_And bask thy world in white!"_

Her heart ceased beating. Blood dripped from her back and chest where she had been run through with the Slayer's own claw. Kaiba screamed and tried to run to her, but Joey and Tristan held him back. "What are you doing!?" The leader of the Guild of Shadows questioned angrily.

Tristan shook his head. "Kisara told me she were to give up her life some time in the future for our salvation.

"Is there no other way around it!? WHY DID SHE NEED TO DIE? TELL ME!" Kaiba struggled between the two boys and eventually broke free of them. But it was futile.

The slayer removed it's arm from Kisaras body, but strangely, she did not fall to the ground immediately. A pale blue light was removed from her chest, before she dropped to the floor. As it rose to the sky, the roof of the church gave way and intense light showered the building.

"_I will always be with you Kaiba!"_

Her body dropped to the floor lifeless and dead, but in the sky, he could hear the familiar roar of a dragon as it appeared before them. There was no kidding, it was a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, he had two of the cards already in his deck. Slayer Yami seemed to have become immediately crippled by the light above, it was as if Kisara's soul had transported them to the heavens.

Kaiba pulled out the two cards from his deck as the words of Kisara ran through his head. _"Combine my power of the Blue Eyes White Dragon with the two you have!"_

The assassin reached for a green bordered spell card. "What is this card?"

The image on it depicted two fiery demons swirling in a purple vortex of clouds. The title of the card read "Polymerisation."

He placed it down the card on his Dagger Duel Disk. "I use Polymerisation and fuse together my three Blue Eyes White Dragons to create-"

The transparent ghosts of the other two dragons joined with the third Duel Monster and created a three headed version of his white dragon. "-BLUE EYES ULTIMATE DRAGON!"

The dragon flew over all of them like they were its lessers. Kaiba commanded his new monster to attack."Use your white lightning and send that creep back where he came from!"

The tri-headed dragon charged a beam from each jaw in unison and fired a beam of white impacting instantly on the demon and surrounded the room in light.

Tea covered her face with her arms to defend herself, being so close to the impact. For a second, she worried. The holy dragons attack was more than enough to destroy the Pharaoh as well. "No!"

"A sacrifice for a sacrifice. I lost Kisara when she died, you will lose whatever miserable crumb is left of your Pharaoh!" Tea was unable to react as everyone began to get engulfed in light, but feared the worst.

As the light cleared, a gentle breeze whirled through the air. The sensation of imminent danger dropped suddenly in the room, but so did the hope of Tea finding Yami alive. The Slayer had been banished by Blue Eyes White Dragon, and miraculously, left the human body of the Pharaoh lying on the ground a few yards away. He didn't move.

"PHARAOH!" Clutching ahold of his puzzle tightly, Tea ran to his side and knelt down. At the same time, Kaiba had dropped his Duel Disk and walked slowly over to Kisara.

Tea grabbed his lifeless body and tried to wake up Yami. "Please. Wake up."

She shook him again. "You have to!" She shook him again.

No response.

"Please... for Little Yugi..." She began to cry and he words still failed to reach him.

Joey and Tristan remained silent. They didn't know what to else to say.

The broken chapel remained silent as she wept tears like a small girl. For a moment in her life, she had lost all hope, just how Kaiba had lost his.

"You can still save him if you hurry." A familiar voice spoke. It sounded like Ryou Bakura but much less menacing than before. As Tea looked up she saw the face of a kind boy stare back at her. He was certainly Bakura, but his face seemed much more innocent and his hair was less spiked. He held out his Millennium Ring. "I can transfer the heart of the Black Wing my dark spirit stole from you back to Pharaoh."

He knelt over aside Tea and held out his golden artifact. The light on the ring shined red and began to restore power to Yami Yugi's dying heart. He began to breathe again as life seeped through him. Some of the light from Bakura's ring also directed it at the Puzzle Tea held. Tea decided to relinquish her possession of it and placed it in his hands of Yami as he slowly awoke to his surroundings.

He looked up at Tea's face as the light connecting the ring, the puzzle and himself faded. "Hey there Tea." He tried to pull a grin as if everything was alright. He was comforted by the familiar whispers inside his puzzle as he clutched it.

"_Yami!"_

Someone else called out to him, but it wasn't Tea. Inside his puzzle spoke the comforting voice of Little Yugi, who had been kept from him for so long. _"What happened while I was away? Something completely trashed my soul room!" _Yugi groaned _"Now I've got to tidy everything up!"_

Yami was finally strong enough to sit himself up "I thought I had some kind of terrible dream. I had no control over my actions."

He looked around and noticed the carnage dealt to the chapel. The corpses of assassins and werewolves lay in the distance, crushed in rubble. The carpet on the floor had been upturned, chairs had been moved from their position. The roof of the chapel had been ripped open revealing nothing but white light. And above it all observed Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, who shortly dissipated and returned to Kaiba's hand as three Blue-Eyes White Dragon Duel Monster cards.

Kaiba shut his eyes and focused as he welcomed the new card into his collection of monsters and reminded himself never to forget what Kisara had done for him.

Yami saw him walk across the room "What are you doing here, traitor!?"

Kaiba said nothing as he moved over to the body of Kisara lying on the ground. When Yami saw it, he felt sick. Kaiba lifted her up and then faced Yami. "Trying to redeem for my mistakes. But instead, it cost the love of my life." He immediately walked out of the church with here dead body in her arms. "I shall give her the final blessing. She deserves only that much for the sacrifice she made today."

Yami's pupils shrunk "Did I do that...?"

"It wasn't your fault..." Tea replied.

The Pharaoh slammed his fist to the ground. "If only I had protected my friends properly!"

Bakura seemed saddened. "If it weren't for my dark side, this wouldn't have happened."

Tristan shook his head "Marik was responsible as well. And we still need to locate him."

Yami finally stood up. He felt his energy return to him in a way unlike before. He focused as Little Yugi's spirit came into view aside Bakura. _"It's good to be back partner. I don't know what happened but I think Marik separated us."_

"Indeed it is," Yami smiled and nodded.

"_You really can't go two minutes without me can you? I can feel that something terrible happened while I was away, but I'm back now." _

* * *

Between the time it took for Bakura to explain everything to the group, Little Yugi was finally back in command to allow his friend to rest.

"...So Yami Yugi became this Slayer thing?" Little Yugi asked. "I still can't quite believe it, but it was certainly a shock when I took control of my body again. It's been bruised and bashed all over the place."

Bakura nodded and raised a hand as they huddled around. "Yes. The Slayer is the Daevic Avatar to Zorc. When Marik stole the heart of the real Black Wing all that remained was the dark desire of murder and revenge. There is a time the Black Wing is supposed to awaken to their powers; but unfortunately, Yami Yugi's did at the wrong time. Besides just that though, the Black Wing awakens to other powers, such as controlling a deadly wind storm of black feathers. They don't even need to use spell cards like normal people do. I don't really know what else they're capable of."

Tea clutched Little Yugi in her arms. "What if it happens again? Will Yugi become the Slayer again?"

Bakura shook his head. "No. Becoming the Slayer is a voluntary action so long as his heart is a whole one. I do not recommend it. You saw that devil. It was almost as if the atmosphere around it twisted and turned. It has no conscience thriving on the instinct of murder. It would dispatch allies and foes alike without second thought."

Tristan had an epiphany. "Maybe that's why Marik wanted the power of the Black Wing so badly."

Bakura simply nodded in response. "That's exactly what I believe. Marik still has Tea's heart, so you will need to confront him sooner or later."

Yugi looked up at the brunette above him. "Tea... you still haven't got your..."

"...I haven't. But I'll be fine. As long as I put my trust in my friends and myself, nothing will go wrong!" Tea shone.

Joey snapped his finger "Now that's more like it! Joey Wheeler style, booyeah!"

The party put their hands up together in confidence. All they had to do now was track down where Marik Ishtar had run off to and defeat him to win the Shadow Game and obtain back Tea's lost heart.

**Note:**

**For some reason I was thinking of the first pokemon movie when I wrote the mid-section of this chapter. Huh. I guess childhood hit me hard on the nail.**

**Polymerisation is the British spelling of 'Polymerization' contrary to what the card states.  
**


	13. Ch13 - The End of the Road

**Pre-Notes:- We're nearly at the end of the road! Just one more Chapter after this.**

**It's been so much fun writing this, I hope you did as well!**

* * *

**Chapter 13 - End of the Road**

* * *

The party had been lead to a strange abandoned castle that had been fenced off from the rest of the town. The gates were rusted and bashed, but the building behind it was in good condition, despite the grass being overgrown.

Yami folded his arms and stepped closer. "What is this?"

"Looks like a creepy old joint to me" Captain Obvious Tristan replied.

Bakura moved over to where Yami stood and tried to explain himself "This is where the founder of the city, the Pharaoh used to live before he abandoned the town."

"...He abandoned it because he was the Black Wing." Yami finished off his sentence, filling the blanks of information. "For some reason I feel that one of the protagonists of this game was supposed to be the Black Wing."

"But where does that leave me?" Tea asked.

"That's just more of the mystery we have to solve." Yami grabbed the ringed and tried to pull it. Meanwhile, Joey noticed him struggle and drew his greatsword, quickly chomping it through the weak metal. "We don't need to find out why Tea is a Black Wing, because I already know!"

Yami had nearly forgotten about Joey's knowledge on the game. "Oh, that's right!"

As the group began to move down the old pathway to the castle Joey decided to explain what he knew. "...There was this girl that was a childhood friend with the Black Wing. I think while he was the Pharaoh, they both got caught up in sealing Zorc and ended up inheriting his power."

* * *

Tristan tried to visualise the events in his head. He imagined a girl that looked like Tea and the Pharaoh standing up against a giant black demon. The man had his arms spread out on top of his castle as the giant black demon ahead plodded slowly towards him and his town. A great gush of powerful wind and a growing storm did not stop him from standing his ground.

"_I won't have you take our town!" _The man who looked like Yami replied.

The demon stopped to chuckle. _"I killed all your men. You have nothing left to protect your miserable place."_

"_He's too strong. We can't possibly win!"_

A girl who looked like Tea clutched the Pharaoh from behind. _"We'll have to resort to summoning __Horakhty!"_

The Pharaoh gasped. _"But we still don't have everything we need. We're still missing the horn of Zorc!"_

Tea pulled out her bow from her back and shook her head. _"No matter what, we'll get through this."_

Yami smiled. _"Yes of course."_

* * *

The group had reached to the inner sanctum of the castle. It was dim and dark, no candles were lit. Bakura lead them through the derelict castle of the supposed "Pharaoh". Yami and Yugi had switched places, and the boy inspected the old architecture of the building. Each wall seemed to depict a story, much like the Egyptian tombs. He saw a black headed creature-faced man with its hand out, and in front of it was a black demon with wings. He pointed as he recognised the figure from school. "Isn't that Set?"

Joey gave an eye at the carving "Hey you're right! But I don't recognise the other thing."

Bakura shuddered "That's Zorc. The demon that spread his powers to those who could take his place when he died. If you follow the image, next to Zorc is the two selected as the Black Wings."

As Yugi looked further, he noticed the two images of the Black Wings were raised and recessed like a pushable switch. He placed his hands on it and tried to push it without thinking, causing the earth to shake beneath them. Dust dropped from the roof as the floor descended a few feet away, revealing a stairway going downwards. Almost immediately, a monster resembling a green Lizardman leapt out from the pathway below to attack them, but Bakura was surprisingly ready for the trap. As the Lizardman throw forward his sword at Yugi Moto, Bakura clutched the monsters wrist to prevent movement. His clamp tightened and his nails dug into the monsters solid scales.

Tea was angered by the surprise attack and loaded an arrow into her golden bow and slung an arrow into the monsters neck; causing it to collapse into a heap on the floor. Bakura released it from his grip and allowed Yugi to walk free who drew his sword from his belt. "This is all kinds of dangerous."

"Dangerous it may be so, but I think your answer lies down those steps. Perhaps this is the way Marik went." Bakura's calm face contrasted to his bloody fingers, which he shook clean.

The adventurers climbed down the stairs; this time Joey led the group. Yugi was curious at his behaviour and decided to speak out. "Shouldn't you be letting Bakura lead?"

Wheeler simply flexed his sword. "If we lose you or Tea, Yugi, our only chances of beating this game are sunk. So I'm going to stand up and fight for everyone. Even the ones that didn't make it here."

Yugi could feel the presence of Joey's sister in his words. He was fighting not just for his friends he was with now, but Serenity, Duke and even Seto Kaiba.

As the group continued to embark down the stone passage, a single step of Joey seemed to trigger the flight of a legion of bats that swooped over his head. He ducked, placing one free hand over his head to cover him from the beat of their wings as they just barely squeezed over his head through the low-roofed passage.

Tea squealed and hopped back, nearly toppling Tristan behind her. She realised what she had done, and the pair gave off awkward expressions, trying not to look directly at each other while they blushed.

Yugi tried to hit some sense to them. "Come on guys! Let's keep going, we're almost there!"

The pathway ended, and they suddenly found themselves in a vast room with a circular stone gate in the middle. A few paces before it was a circular recess on the floor, which a familiar face stood on. Marik Ishtar. His cold silver eyes watched the group as they walked into the room as if he expected them. Some foreign glowing green spheres gave a creepy glow in the dark room.

Yugi clutched his sword handle ready "Marik! We're ending your game this hour!"

Marik stepped off of the platform, and began to walk a wide circle around them. "What if I don't want it to end just yet?" He clicked his fingers and it released a black bolt of lightning that skirted past the boy.

Joey and Tristan stood in front of Yugi instinctively, ready to fight back. Wheeler raised his sword high in the air. "Bring it on you chump!"

He grabbed a card and placed it down on his sword. Tristan placed one down at the same time with his mace.

"Commander Angel!" Tristan cried.

"Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Joey shouted.

A bellowing roar screamed as Wheelers black dragon materialized into view and roared menacingly at Marik. Tristan's commander angel cocked her machine gun at the villain. Marik Ishtar merely stood there watching them and continued to grin his sly smile.

Joey and Tristan both slung down their weapons in a downwards motion "ATTACK!"

Both Duel Monsters under command of the boys fired their attacks at Marik causing a large explosion. Cracks appeared as the slabbed floor crumbled and twisted under the sheer force of the combined attack. The black smoke and dust settled, besides a crater in the floor there was nothing to be seen.

"Where did he...?" Tristan wondered.

Joey took a few slow steps forward to inspect the left over carnage. "Did we pulverize him into thin air?"

Yugi gulped as his partner whispered words into his mind. He held out his hand to Joey, trying to call him back. "Wait a minute Joey-!"

It was too late. Within seconds, Marik had appeared behind Wheeler while he was on his own in a flash of black feathers. "Yo!" He creepily whispered into the ear of Joey. Before the boy could look around or even react, his face was clasped by a black claw. From Yugi's perspective, it looked like Marik had surrounded one of his hands in black magical feathers. Marik gripped onto Joey's head and flung him down onto the floor, wiping him out of consciousness.

Red-Eyes squealed in fear before vanishing without the presence of his master. Marik flung his hand out of the magical trance, and it was normal once again. "Haha! The powers of the Black Wing is exceptional! It makes me wonder why you chose to discard it Bakura."

Bakura shook his head. "Only because I was a victim to your vile spell."

"But you are a Silver Jackal, a werewolf! No more than a dog! You are nothing! You were designed in no other way but to serve me!" Marik teased, drawing his Millennium Rod and pointing it at him like a staff.

"That's where you're wrong." Bakura retorted "I lost most of my powers as a Silver Jackal when I was defeated by the Slayer. He freed me from those terrible binds. And now I use the knowledge that remains with me to help my friends defeat you."

Marik bit his lip "You whimper loud for a dog." His expression changed back to his usual sadistic smile "But I will put you down very soon!"

A single black wing flicked out of the left side of Marik's back and he jeered. "I have the powers of the Black Wing, but it is still not enough!" He began to salvate "I need more... now that I've found out this truth I should have taken both powers of the Black Wing myself!"

Tristan's Commando Angel shot more lead at Marik to try and end him, but he twirled his rod to block the attack, making the bullets clang as they were redirected to the floor adjacent to him. He flung back his rod and charged a black bolt invigorated by the Black Wing power in his hand and fired the shot at the Commando Angel, detonating it into nothingness.

Tristan gritted his teeth as he watched his Duel Monster become dust "Why is he so strong?"

Marik pulled back his rod and laughed, tightening his free fist. "You have no idea what sort of powers I can now achieve with this! And as soon as I acquire the Pharaoh's power and combine it with my own, I'll be unstoppable. Behold!" Marik quickly performed another lightning of black, but this time aimed it at Tristan himself. His friends were unable to do anything to help him.

A shadow stepped up in front of Tristan took the blow. He didn't realise it at first, but he could see a giant black sheath mounted on the guys back. It took a few seconds for the fact to sink in, but Joey stood there before him. He had gotten up from his unconscious state and blocked Mariks attack with his Duel Disk Greatsword, which cracked under the strain of the impact.

"J-Joey," Tristan was mostly speechless, only being able to utter his friends name.

"It's okay Trist'." Joey uttered quietly. His voice was weakened and fatigued; he still hadn't recovered from the blow Marik had dealt to him. "I said I'd protect you guys..."

Joey's greatsword shattered into golden pieces and his knees collapsed, making him topple to the ground again. Tristan was shocked by his sacrifice. "JOEY!"

Tea placed her hand over her mouth in concern "How do we beat him?"

Yugi too was unsure. Marik was able to destroy even Duel Monsters like the Red-Eyes with ease, there had to be another strategy. As his mind tightened its focus his partner, Yami Yugi, stepped into view as a ghostly apparition.

"_Marik may appear strong, but remember, this world is still just a video game. Just like every boss to a dungeon he has a weakness we can exploit; we just need to find it."_ The wise words of his partner echoed, Yami's folded stance and cold eyes expressed a look of confidence, assuring Yugi he would be able to overcome the trial. Despite looking like an older version of himself, Yugi felt that Yami had grown a little on the inside and had returned to his basic instincts as a tactical gamer. With that in mind, he nodded in confirmation, trusting his friends words.

Yugi decided to enquire on the Pharaoh's confidence. "But what can we do?"

"_What can't we do?"_

Somehow, those words alone filled Yugi in completely with what Yami had planned. He watched as his friend faded away and turned his attention back to Marik. He made the first step forward, getting closer to the maniac.

"So you're finally going to give me your soul are you? Oh you shouldn't have!" Marik teased. His mockery was cut short when he saw the glint in Yugi's eyes. Before the villain could blink, his target was gone from sight. Instead, he found his body being pushed to the ground by a heavy wind, disarming him of his rod. "What is this foul play!?" Marik screeched in defiance. His eyes locked on a feather of black that dropped to the floor and vanished. When he rolled over to look up, he saw Yugi standing above him and feathers dropped from the sky and evaporated.

"I-I didn't think you were able to handle such power!"

"Nor did I." Yugi blushed. "But I just put trust in myself and I was able to floor you right now." The smile the boy gave was almost a tease to Marik being overwhelmed for a second. He rolled on his back again frantically looking for his rod. A glint of gold shone within reaching distance. "All I need is this and I can defeat you!" He jeered as he reached out to swipe it, but suddenly, it began to roll. He saw the trainer of a foot; someone had kicked it out of his reach. "You!"

The foot belonged to Bakura. "Awfully sorry, but I can't have you hurting my friends."

Marik crawled to his feet in anger. "Fine!" He wheezed. "I can do all this without the other pathetic Black Wing. All I need to do is pass that gate that will soon form in the center of this room." He used his one wing to leap higher than usual over the parties heads, so he was out of attack distance.

"What?" Bakura asked slyly.

"Oh, that was one thing I didn't tell you did I?" Marik grinned. "The room to Zorc's ultimate power will reveal itself in this room as soon as both Black Wings display an act of their power! And that power belongs to me!"

"That snake!" Tristan growled. He was unable to move since he was attending to Joey's lifeless body, making sure he was still breathing. "Yugi, Tea, chase him down for me."

Tea was already way ahead of him, shooting an arrow at Marik that promptly missed. She gasped as the stone gate in the middle of the room began to fill with a purplish colour. Marik was trying to run through it. "We need to follow him quickly Yugi!"

Tristan smiled warmly at Yugi. "We'll be rooting for ya pal. Go tear him a new one for me and Joey."

Yugi merely nodded as he followed Tea. Marik was first through the gate, being sucked into a different dimension, shortly followed by the duo. Bakura also tried following at the last minute, but the gate had closed in front of him, barring his entry.

"Be careful guys."

**Note:**

**Things will get interesting for the finale, thanks for reading this far guys!**


	14. Ch14 - Here Comes a New Challenger

**Chapter 14 – Here Comes A New Challenger**

* * *

A wide space of black that faded into green-white lights hovering above Tea and Yugi set the scene. Their shoes crunched in the odd jade bone texture of the ground, which had alien construction. It was a suspended flat circular panel they stood on which had a narrow bridge that connected to the largest circular panel in the center.

Marik had already ran down ahead of them, trying to find the source of Zorc's power. He didn't seem to keen on trying to stop Tea and Yugi at the moment who had followed him in; perhaps in the hope he could get what he searched for before they had the chance. The duo were still mesmerized by the weird space they were in; it was like a different world entirely. Hoping not to attract the attention of Ishtar; they both looked at each other and nodded, before walking down the sloped pathway slowly. The sounds of the whirring around them hid the scuffle noises of their feet. Somehow, Marik's loud voice overpowered this atmospheric sound. "Where is the power I so rightly claim!? It should be here somewhere," his eyes locked onto a platform ahead that mirrored the one Yugi and Tea had started on. Instead of a gateway, on top of this platform was a seat with strange decorations behind it. It resembled a throne.

Marik couldn't be happier. He ran over with his hands flailing in the air, screaming weird garble like a lunatic. At this point Tea and Yugi ran to catch up, but they were blocked by something else. He sat on the cold seat and rubbed his arms over the siderests affectionately. "Look! I'm the King now! Bow down to me!"

Silence.

"Why don't have have infinite power already?" Marik quickly grew frustrated.

The person who appeared before Yugi and Tea soon revealed themselves. They wore a white cloak and hood, much like a nun. She wore long sleeves and only her left hand was visable. There was a weird kind of benevolent air around her. "Who's she?" Yugi whispered to Tea.

"I don't know," Tea quickly replied.

The woman in white and blue stepped slowly forward to Marik Ishtar. "My name is Mellissan and I have been watching over this place for as long as I can remember. "

Marik stood up from his position. "What!? There was no such thing in the legend!"

"Of course not." Mellissan quickly replied. "If anyone knew, it would be... too easy," her words halted for a brief period.

"I am a Black Wing!" Marik shouted, revealing the single black wing on his back. "I am rightful to this position!"

Mellissan shook her head. "No. You can only become the ruler here with my blessing."

Marik seemed hysterical. "So you won't give me what I want?"

To Yugi and Tea's suprise, Mellissan shook her head again. "No. I will give you it, if you come to me."

Bad news for Yugi and Tea. The brunette girl was itching to act. "Hey Yugi, if we let this continue, then all will be lost!"

Yugi remained still, concentrating on the situation. "Let's wait a bit."

"Huh?" Tea had noticed that Yugi had that look in his eyes; the same look that an opponent would make to him laying down cards face down in a Duel.

The ghost of the Pharaoh appeared over Yugi's shoulder. _"You noticed it as well?"_

Yugi merely nodded in response as he watched the rest of the events unfold.

Marik was now face to face with Mellissan. He didn't seem to keen to attack her just yet; he would take the blessing from her to acquire Zorc's energy, then kill her. Mellissan held out her visible hand and touched Marik's shoulder. "Now, I shall give you the blessing of the Black Wing..."

Marik grinned.

"...by taking it away." Mellissan coldly worded.

Marik didn't have a chance to react when his vision was blackened. From Tea's perspective, Mellissan hand suddenly drawn a massive black iron gauntlet from her other cuff and snatched Marik by the face to prevent him from seeing. Suddenly, the aura around her dripped to a blood cold.

Ishtar was unable to speak or react, but he could instantly feel his body being sapped away. Mellissan screamed. "Soon the powers of the Black Wing shall be mine!" She released Marik and he dropped to a heap on the floor. Grabbing her cloak, she removed it revealing some black battle armour underneath designed with a red stripe. He hair was mid-length and orange. Her head was decorated in an intimidating gold head-dress with white feathers. She summoned a black spear to her left hand, and flexed her black gauntlet in the other. "All I need now is one more soul of a Black Wing and I will have what I need to take Zorc's place!" Her eyes locked with Yugi; sensing the power within his being.

Yugi readied his Duel Disk sword. He could feel his own body demand to sweep him away, as Yami cried to be set free to challenge the dangerous woman. He allowed it, and his Millennium Puzzle activated and Yami soon stood before Tea and Mellissan. He whipped out a card from his deck on his belt. "How did you get in here?" Yami asked, trying to buy himself time.

"Get in here!? I was waiting in here for almost an eternity for the Black Wings to stroll right in!" Mellissan screamed. "I got in here when Zorc first created this place thousands of years ago when he predicted his own demise. Time does not flow here. You do not grow old and die. You do not require amenities so significant as 'sleep' either. To live an eternity has made me feel the powers of a god, but I lack the power. I desire it so! So you need to roll over and die so I can take it!" Mellissan aimed her spear at Yami Yugi's heart removing her from any further negotiations with him.

Yami flipped up the one card he had randomly drew to his hand and glanced at the unique red bordered card. "And so the heart of the cards pulls through for me," he smiled.

He raised his card up in the air in a dramatic way and revealed it to the new enemy. "I summon Slifer the Sky Dragon!" He placed down the card on his sword hilt and before long, a scream could be heard in the air as a red snake dragon emerged from the sky. It was larger than any normal Duel Monster. "This is my Egyptian God Card!" Yami threatened.

Mellissan just chuckled. "I've slain much bigger dragons in my lifetime compared to that tiny whelp." She summoned the black wing that Marik once had to her back and propelled herself forward to attack the Yami first. She aimed for his heart, but Silfer descended far enough to block, and instead she changed her course by jumping on it's head. She cruelly stabbed down her spear onto the monsters head to keep stability. "You underestimate my power, Pharaoh!" The girl shouted while she knelt down on the dragon she surfed. She placed down her iron gauntlet with an open palm. Before long, Slifer gave a roar as it shattered into thin air and she dropped from the sky.

Yami was in awe.

Mellissan turned around. "This is the Death Claw of Dragon Slaying. Any dragon you summoned will instantly be its victim. _Even if it is a _god."

Yami's best monster had been destroyed. There wasn't any better card he could have pulled and it was quickly defeated by Mellissan. "She fights like a real warrior." He fumbled through his cards to see if he could draw anything else. "I summon the Buster Blader!"

"Oh?" Mellissan smirked "And what will your little man do?"

"Since my dragons don't work, I shall fight warrior with warrior." Yami replied as his Duel Monster stood before him.

Buster Blader attacked, and too did Mellissan."I just don't get why you don't use your powers of the Black Wing! It's putting you at a huge disadvantage mortal!" She swept her spear and it clashed as the Buster Blader defended with his huge sword.

"I don't want such power." Yami replied.

"Then why not give it to me!?" Mellissan cringed as she nearly let herself take a hit by Yami's monster.

"Because I don't need it. Nobody needs it. Not even you. Such a dark power is only meant to be abused." Yami continued.

"But without it you'll die!" Mellissan screamed as she finally struck her spear through Buster Blader's torso, destroying it. "Why risk the life of you and your disgusting girlfriend!?"

"Because this is just a game. And I'm about to beat it." Yami sneered.

Mellissan charged at Yami with her spear to prevent him summoning another monster. "You'll do no such thing!"

An arrow shot from the corner of her eye and she was nearly struck by it. It seemed Tea wanted a piece of this woman as well. "I'm not disgusting! You are!"

"You bitch!" Mellissan screamed "I'll decimate you first!"

But Mellissan stopped. She couldn't move her body further as it suddenly went cold. She looked down at her torso and noticed a golden blade had stuck itself inside her body.

Yami's hand was at the other end of the blade. He had run her through. "I struck you in the heart, where the power of the Black Wing lies."

"No! You-" Mellissan stopped as the pain quickly sunk in. "I will not go without a real fight...!"

Yami removed the sword from her body and stepped backwards. Tea stood close by. The Pharaoh's Puzzle glowed as power of the other half of the black wing sucked itself in.

However, Mellissan did not seem keen to give it up. "I beseech you... Slayer..."

Yami grabbed Tea by the waste and lifted her into her hands. "What are you doing?" Tea asked, feeling rather awkward.

"We need to leave as soon as possible." Yami quickly replied.

Tea suddenly felt herself being lifted in the air. When she looked up, she could see Yami... flying?

He had a pair of black wings this time, whereas Mellissan and Marik had only showed one. "You know Yami, you could take that throne in that room right now and become a god; why don't you look back?" Tea asked.

"I chose not to because I'd rather not abandon my friends. That's my only reason."

"You'd throw it all away for that?"

"You better believe it." Yami responded. "Besides, if I lived here for eternity with ultimate power, I'd get bored very quickly. I'm already missing playing Duel Monsters with Yugi again."

Yami dived through the gate while holding on to Tea, and as they left, the room around them had begun to crumble and fall apart. The monster that was once Mellissan had fallen to the bottom of the endless space, never to be seen again.

Page breaky

Yami tumbled and fell over a wooden object, into a heap of bodies on the floor. His vision was obscured by something that blocked out the light. It felt soft and comfortable... like a pillow. He wanted to sit there for a bit, but he suddenly found himself being scolded by the voice of Tea above him.

"Oh wow Yami, you know where to land don't you?" Tristan chuckled from behind.

Yami pulled himself up and realised that his face had been resting between Tea's cleavage. He blushed and shook it off, before realising they were back in Joey's bedroom. He noticed Tea was back in her normal pink uniform. Standing up, he saw Tristan and Joey beside him, but they were also not carrying their Duel Disk weapons nor wearing their equipment.

Yami rubbed his head. "Was that some kind of dream?" He questioned.

"I don't think so." Joey replied. "I remember going on a whacky adventure, as if we were really in that videogame!" Wheeler was confused when Yami instinctively pulled his hands behind his back.

"The wings... they aren't there anymore." He thought aloud.

"Ehh... you high Yami? What wings?" Joey had not seen Yugi or Yami use the Black Wings like Marik or Mellissan had.

Tea merely giggled at the embarrassing situation the Pharaoh had put himself in.

* * *

Later that day, Joey carried the box of Pharaoh's Gate in his hands. He decided to return it to the store after the experience he had with it. When he arrived, he noticed a massive queue going outdoors. Various people carried the games in their hands with disgruntled faces. He had a feeling he would be waiting a long time. In the meanwhile, he saw a TV screen on the outside of the door which had the face of Seto Kaiba on it.

"...Our first edition print of Pharaoh's Gate may have suffered technical compromises by connecting to the Kaiba Corp Virtual Network. You can trade in the game for a new copy and register your key on the Fume Network on your computers when you get home." Kaiba's face seemed to delve into confusion via the live feed and he whispered "...Did all of that actually happen?"

Joey assumed he still hadn't gotten over the church girl Kisara sacrificing himself. He watched as Kaiba clutched his Duel Monsters card hung around his neck, before the live video feed ended and the screen of the television went blank.

His cellphone in his satchel rung as he continued to wait in the crowd. He lifted the device out of his pocket and flipped it open before placing it by his ear to listen. He could hear Tristan on the other end. "Hey Joey, guess what?" Tristan's fuzzy voice on the other end.

"What?" Joey asked. He could hear Tristan giggling on the other end, making him even more curious.

"Yugi just duped Yami into going on a date with Tea again! He's not happy!"

Joey sniggered. "I have to see this!"

Wheeler got disinterested in queuing and decided to run off. He had a better idea in mind anyway.

* * *

Yami felt like he could pass out on the spot. He lugged himself through the door of Kame before hearing a voice in his head. _"Let me switch places before Grandpa sees us!"_

Yami grumbled at Yugi's deviance. "Fine."

Yugi saw his grandfather standing at the counter inside. His older relative immediately noticed his presence and welcomed him in. "How are you doing Yugi?"

Yugi was tierd. Tea had dragged Yami through a shopping mall through the entire afternoon and he could feel the wear on his body. "I'm a little tierd actually."

"It's very late in the evening. You should be catching some rest."

Yugi's mind had already wondered off on its own. His eyes locked on to the box at the top of the shelf. Grandpa snapped "What did I tell you about not touching stock on the shelves?"

"I was just wondering about this game here." Yugi said lifting down the old dusty box. It was very large and flat and he could hear the clatter of loose plastic pieces inside.

"Oh that one, that's a game I used to play when I was young. I showed it to one of your friends when he wondered in here."

Yugi saw the title on the box read 'Pharaoh's Gate'. "It looks interesting."

"If you promise not to lose the pieces in there, I'll let you try it out."

* * *

**Fin**

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**And so ends the tale of Pharaoh's Gate! Thanks to everyone for reading this far, I thought I'd leave a little bit at the end to write down my thoughts and inception to the story.**

**This is actually my first Fanfiction to Yugioh and only ended up writing this because I got into the series recently. I remembered it from my childhood, but my sisters did not like me watching it because they thought the card games were 'stupid'. While the card games I feel are their own can of worms, I really liked the mythological lore and characters around the first season in particular.**

**Baldurs Gate Enhanced Edition came out a few months ago, and seeing my father play that game again after over a decade inspired me to write this. That feeling I had watching my father play boardgames in my childhood, before he got his first computer and started playing Baldurs Gate on it. I swear I used to watch him play it every night back in 1999. A year later, Baldurs Gate 2 came out and concluded the story with some of my favourite villains in games of all time, Jon Irenicus and Amelyssan/Melissan. I'm not a fan of Dungeons and Dragons, but these were some of the best story driven adventures I've touched.**

**I felt the genre of videogames and boardgames was sort of a perfect scenario for Yugioh, specifically for the King of Games, Yami Yugi. I remembered how in Season Zero I enjoyed him watching him defeat enemies in smart ways and how his desire to win prevented him from backing down on a challenge.**

**The main deviatons of this story is the entire Egyptian setting it's based on, feeding from the rules of Duel Monsters rather than Dungeons and Dragons. There were many more Children of Bhaal in Baldurs gate than there were Black Wings. (Some children of Bhaal were even non-human creatures like ogres and dragons.) Another notable difference is that Baldur's Gate 2 is set in the town of Amn, whilst Pharaoh's Gate is more a parody of the city of Baldur's Gate. There are many more differences though, see if you can spot them all.**

**Final Character Breakdown:-**

**Yugi Moto/Yami Yugi = Protagonist**

**Joey Wheeler = Minsc**

**Kuriboh = Boo**

**Tristan Taylor = Jaheira**

**Miho = Khalid**

**Duke Delvin = Quayle**

**Serenity = Aerie**

**Eradi = Kalah**

**Seto Kaiba = Yoshimo**

**Marik Ishtar = Jon Irenicus**

**Bakura = Bohdi**

**Melissan = Amelyssan/Melissan**

**The only main character that has their own role is Kisara.**

**Further Reading**

**I spent some time during the week creating a few 'visual' character sheets for this story. I'll probably make more in the future, but if you want to see them, you'll have to note me, as it prevents me linking them here.  
**

**Expect some more visual art for this story in the future. Just because it's finished for now, doesn't mean I can't still bring it to life. Thanks to everyone for reading, especially to ManwiththeImagination for reviewing so many of my chapters. Thank you guys!**


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